Vasco Jardim
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Obituary for Vasco S. Jardim Sr.


Vasco Jardim, Jr., 81, a lifelong resident of New Jersey, died on Friday May 6 in Arlington, Va, after a prolonged illness at the home of his daughter, Cathy, surrounded by loving family members and his devoted long-time companion, Mrs. Nancy Solano and her son, Joseph.
Mr. Jardim operated a printing business, Village Press, in Orange and was a longtime resident of Maplewood before moving to Bernards Township and then to Branchburg.
He and his wife, the former Evelyn Rossi, moved in 1958 from Newark to Maplewood, where Mr. Jardim became active in civic affairs. He was involved with e United Community Fund and the Maplewood Fourth of July Committee in addition to parent-teacher groups at South Orange Junior High School and Clinton School. He was instrumental in reviving the Democratic Party in Maplewood while serving as its president, and he helped to establish the township’s first little league baseball all-star team in 1963.
He was elected in 1968 to the Board of Education for the South Orange-Maplewood School District, the first non-incumbent independent candidate to achieve that distinction. He served for three three-year terms and was the board’s president during his last term. His term of service included overseeing the expansion of Columbia High School. A focus of his time on the board was helping to mainstream students with disabilities. .
Mr. Jardim was born at Beth Israel Hospital in Newark in December of 1929. After graduating in 1948 from East Side High School, where he was class president and valedictorian,he studied at Seton Hall University before leaving to embark on a printer’s career. His experience included work as a type compositor at the Star-Ledger and at the Maplewood-South Orange News-Record. He also was active in union affairs and he was secretary-treasurer for the Newark-based affiliate of the International Typographical Union.


Mr. Jardim got his start as a printer working at the Luso-Americano, the Newark-based Portuguese-language weekly newspaper founded in 1939 by his father, Vasco S. Jardim. Mr. Jardim was the owner and operator of Village Press in Orange for over 35 years until his death . In later years, Mr. Jardim served as president of the Orange Rotary Club .
Mr. Jardim’s interests extended to the arts and he was a founding member of the Cabaret Theater of East Orange where he acted in and produced several productions. .
Mr. Jardim’s wife, Evelyn, died in 2006. He is survived by his son, Gary, his daughter Cathy, son-in-law, Bill Taylor and three grandchildren, Carrie, Meg and Sam Taylor, in Arlington, and, in New Jersey, by his brother, Edward, of Millington, and sister, Natalie Matinho, of Bedminster and Hardyston, as well as Mrs. Solano, of Branchburg. He is mourned as well by Mrs. Solano’s daughters Claudia and Jeanne and son Joseph, and their respective spouses, John Leone, Eileen Solano and Michael.Gilmore and grandchildren John, Jacqueline and John.
Friends may call on Friday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m., at Valley Memorial Funeral Home, 1012 Valley Road, Gillette. A funeral Mass will be celebrated on Saturday at 10 a.m. at St. Vincent de Paul Church, Bebout Avenue, Stirling, with interment at the church cemetery. Donations may be made to Capital Caring, Hospice, 950 North Glebe Road, Suite 500, Arlington, Virginia 22203.

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