John Dragonette

John R. Dragonette
(Asbury Park Press)

AGE: 86 LITTLE SILVER
John R. Dragonette, 86, of Little Silver died peacefully on Friday, May 15, 2009. Born in New York City, he lived in Brooklyn for almost fifty years and in Little Silver, NJ for thirty-six years.

He graduated from Brooklyn College and received a Masters Degree in Urban Planning from Columbia University School of Architecture. A WWII Veteran, he served as an Army Air Force Transporter from January 1943 until February 1946. Employed for thirty-five years by the Port Authority of NY and NJ as a City Planner and Project Administrator, he was credited for selecting the site of the World Trade Center.

Beloved husband of Catherine for fifty-nine years, devoted father and father-in-law to Donna Dragonette and Bennett Gewirtz, Tom Dragonette, June and Bill Sustick. Loving grandfather to Mallory, Amanda, Gabe, and Kate, brother of Joe. He was predeceased by his parents, Antoinette and Joseph Dragonette and his brother, Lt. Thomas Dragonette, WWII in 1944.

Visitation at Holmdel Funeral Home, Sunday, May 17, from 1-5 p.m. Funeral Mass at St. Anthony's of Padua, Red Bank, NJ on Monday, May 18, at 11:15 a.m. Interment at Calvary Cemetery, Woodside, NY. For directions and online condolences visit www.holmdelfuneralhome.com

In Memoriam

From:       Paul Bolognese
To:            info@paranynj.org
Sent:        Saturday, May 16, 2009 5:53 PM
Subject: John Dragonette

It is with great sadness that I report that John Dragonette passed away early yesterday morning.
For those of you who don't know John, he was one of the first members of the World Trade Department, and was actually assigned to the project before the WTD was created.

Prior to joining the Port Authority John had worked for the City of New York and was involved in maintaining records of NYC streets and zoning. John was assigned to the study team to help in the assessment of properties which would be required for the WTC's Construction. When the project began, John was assigned to the Office of the Chief of Planning and Construction which was headed by Mal Levy. John was an invaluable resource to the project and maintained all the record of expenditures related principally to the many and sundry consultants and other experts hired during the life of the planning and construction phases. Remarkably if you happened to ask John how much money was spent on a particular consultant, most of the time he could tell you to within a few thousand dollars and if he couldn't recall immediately, he would pull a folder with 21 column accounting paper and tell you within 45 seconds.

Funeral services for John will be conducted Monday May 18 at 11 A.M. at St. Anthony's Roman Catholic Church, which is located at 121 Bridge Avenue in Red Bank, NJ 07701, phone (732) 747-0813.

A wake will be conducted, tomorrow only, from 1 P.M. to 5 P.M. at the Holmdel Funeral Home located at 26 South Holmdel Road, Holmdel, NJ 07733, phone (732) 946-3322.

John is survived by his wife Catherine and a daughter and son. Expressions of condolence may be sent to Mrs. Dragonette. (Contact PARA Webmaster for address)

May John rest in peace and may God bless him and his family and give them the strength to accept their great loss.