Former Ventnor City, New Jersey Commissioner Has Passed Away

Ventnor City, New Jersey has lost a very humble public servant, who was a perfect gentleman in the game of life.

Paul Maccagnano passed away on December 16, 2024 at the age of 90 years old.

Maccagnano served two non-consecutive terms as a Ventnor City Commissioner, winning with former Mayors Scott Becker, Ted Bergman and Tim Kreischer.

After Bergman and Kay McLernon finished in a tie for the 3rd Commission seat in the election of 1996, a special election was ordered.

Bergman made a difficult decision not to run in the special election.

As was the case in the 1980 Ventnor City Commission special election, other candidates were allowed to enter the special election field.

Kreischer endorsed Paul Maccagnano, who then went on to defeat McLernon by a wide margin.

McLernon had the distinction of losing an Atlantic County Freeholder election by 1 vote (to Seth Grossman) one Ventnor City Commission election by one vote and then she finished in a tie for a winning position in yet another Ventnor City Commission election … only to lose to Maccagnano in the special election.

Paul’s Daughter, Beth Maccagnano recently was elected to two terms and served as Mayor, before moving from Ventnor and resigning her seat.

The Maccagnano’s are the only Father - Daughter duo to win Ventnor City Commission seats.

Pete Kreischer is a former Ventnor City Council President and his son, Tim Kreischer was a 4-term City Commissioner & 3-term Mayor of Ventnor.

Paul Maccagnano was also a long-time Ventnor City business owner - for decades - as owner and operator of Todd D’Paul’s Hair Salon.

Paul Maccagnano was a hockey enthusiast and he co-founded The Shore Hickey School along with Pete Sallata and Don Pitale … where they taught the fundamentals of hockey for more than 30 years.

From Paul Maccagnano’s obituary:

“Paul was also a co-founder of the the Old Men's Hockey League (OMHL), where he continued to play well into his 70's. Paul patented Mac's Hockey Tape for use on the blade of a hockey stick, and it was first used in an NHL game by Tommy Albelin of the NJ Devils on March 27, 1995.”

”Paul Maccagnano was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey on February 1, 1934, to the late Lorenzo and Carmela Maccagnano. He was a graduate of Atlantic City High School. Paul enlisted in the U.S. Army, became a paratrooper and was a proud member of the 82nd Airborne Division.”

The photos below give you an idea about how great a community Ventnor City is.

There are official photos from the Ventnor City, New Jersey.