Obituary of Commander Joseph C. Callaert

Commander Joseph C. Callaert, Sr., U.S.N.R. (retired), 90, of Freehold Township died Sunday, June 30, 2013 at home. He was born in Manchester, N.H. and had resided in Freehold for the past 60 years. He was a Naval Aviator during his service in World War II. Joe received his Navy Wings and commission in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1945. After his active duty service he served for 16 years in the U.S. Navy Reserve and was retired with rank of Commander. He served with the VF 752 Squadron at Lakehurst Naval Air Base. As a boy he attended Freehold Schools and Freehold High School. He was a graduate of Bluefield College and Concord College in West Virginia and received a Master’s Degree from West Virginia University. He also attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute, William and Mary University, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He began his teaching career in West Virginia Schools where he served for seven years. He was a mathematics teacher in the Freehold High School and Southern Freehold High School, now known as Howell High School, for 30 years. He was a basketball, baseball, and football coach and coached the 1959 Central Jersey Group Basketball Champion team while at Freehold High School. Mr. Callaert was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, Freehold and Crescent Temple Shrine, Trenton. He was an avid outdoorsman and enjoyed hunting, fishing, and gardening. Surviving are his wife of 67 years, Margaret Holcomb Callaert; a son and daughter-in-law, Joseph Callaert and Linda Callaert; a daughter and son-in-law, Virginia A. and Bart Coma; and his grandchildren, Kimberly Gates and her husband David, Florida, Kristine Ginty and husband Matthew, New Jersey, Bart Joseph Coma and his wife Kristine, and Michael Scott Coma, his fiancé, Danielle Ballew and her daughter Korrina. The viewing will be held at the Higgins Memorial Home, 20 Center Street, Freehold on Sunday from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. Funeral services will be held at the funeral home on Monday at 11:00 a.m. followed by the committal service with U.S. Navy honors at Maplewood Chapel Mausoleum, Freehold. Memorial donations may be made to a charity of your choice.