He acquired his first funeral home in 2009 and has grown to operate Jersey’s largest family owned funeral home company, known as “Jersey Memorial Group”. His holdings include funeral homes and cemeteries in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Additionally, he also publishes a newspaper, “All Around Old Bridge” and is active in venture capital investments through 29029 Ventures, which focuses on emerging products and services impacting the mind, body and soul of local communities.
David is active in each community the funeral homes serve; he is Charter Member and past President of the Kiwanis Club of Manalapan, member of Old Bridge Kiwanis Club, member of the Friendly Sons of the Shillelagh in Belmar, trustee and board member of the Old Bridge- Sayreville- South Amboy Chamber of Commerce, board member of Pennsauken-Merchantville Area Chamber. He was recently elected to the foundation board of the Raritan Bay Medical Center Foundation in Old Bridge and Perth Amboy as the Vice Chair and Chair of Governance, as well as is a business leader in the Old Bridge Business Alliance. He has served as an officer in Middlesex Somerset Funeral Directors Association and is also a member of NJ State Funeral Directors Association, and National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA). His firms are nine-time NFDA Pursuit of Excellence Winners and was recently awarded the Best of the Best Award from NFDA as the top funeral home operator in the Country. He has been named Business Leader of the Year in 2016 by Kiwanis Club of Old Bridge as well as in 2017 by the Chamber of Commerce. Most recently he was recognized in 2018 with NJ Biz 40 under 40 as a young leader in business, and in 2019 by the Greater Monmouth YMCA as their Citizen of the Year. He has also been a guest speaker at NYU Schack School of Real Estate and Alan Creedy's Blue Ocean Tours. David, his family and team have been featured in Funeral Business Advisor and American Funeral Director Magazines.
He and his family attend Calvary Chapel Old Bridge and they volunteer in various ministry opportunities. A licensed funeral Director in New Jersey, he also holds funeral director and embalmers licenses in Pennsylvania and West Virginia as well as a Life Insurance Producers License. David enjoys spending time with his wife, Stacey and their three children, Sophia, David Lee III, and Abigail. He also enjoys competitive fitness, OCR, snowboarding, and golf.
John, a fourth generation farmer, was born and raised in Old Bridge, New Jersey on the same property his family has farmed for over 150 years. He attended and graduated from Madison Township High School, then graduated from Delaware Valley College, in Doylestown, Pennsylvania with a BS in Animal Husbandry.
John is the President of Browntown Bus Service, Inc., a private school bus contractor and airport service providing door to door service to area airports. He also serves as the President of Hauser Hill Farms, a family run fruit and vegetable operation which includes about 200 acres in production. He is proud to continue in the footsteps of his father, grandfather and great grandfather in continuing the rich agricultural history of Old Bridge and Middlesex County. Together with his wife, Midge, the farm has both a retail and wholesale business growing everything from Apples to Zucchini, with a home location and participation in many farmers markets throughout Middlesex and Monmouth counties.
John is a staunch believer in volunteerism, spending the better part of his life volunteering his time to many organizations and serving in many different capacities. He is a member of NJ Farm Bureau, the NJ State Horticultural Society, The NJ State Vegetable Growers Association, the Middlesex County Fair Association, Middlesex County Board of Agriculture, the Tri County Cooperative Growers Association, NJ School Bus Owners’ Association and the Chamber of Commerce. He is also a member of the Holy Name Society at Most Holy Redeemer Parish and an active member of the Cheesequake Volunteer Fire Department for the last 44 years.
Rich Bruno-First 1st Vice President
I am the sitting First Vice President of the OBSSA Chamber of Commerce. I have been actively involved in the Old Bridge community as a small business owner for the last 8 years, as a Franchisee of the Max Challenge of Old Bridge. Over the years, we’ve had the good fortune of impacting thousands of lives with our integrated Fitness and Nutrition program. The MAX Challenge is a program for the mind and body, and helps our community citizens to live happier, healthier lives through a supportive, positive, and welcoming environment. The MAX Challenge, along with its caring, giving members, has raised over $125,000 for a variety of local 501c3 charities over the last six year In 2015, I was fortunate enough to be recognized as the Business Leader of the Year by the OBSSA Chamber of Commerce. As a recent Johnson & Johnson retiree (2019), I have become certified as a John Maxwell coach, speaker and trainer and have launched a new career helping others in different ways. I am currently helping small businesses to build and optimize their businesses, as well as helping others with their personal and professional development in individual and group settings.
Professional/Occupational…Executive level CEO, COO, etc. High concentration on Marketing, Sales and Business Development.Corporate experience includes General Motors, IBM, Port Authority, Remington Rand. Always in managerial and leadership roles, including Director and VP.Medium Business including Partnerships and Ownerships .Regal Data Systems , IT Project based consulting as well as Staff Augmentation,Sold Regal in 1996. Started RJA Business Consultants LLC. CEO/President. Executive Mentoring and CEO manager for Small and Medium Companies. Main concentration on Business development and people managing. Most recent Engagement was Denholtz Properties as Vice President for last 6 years.Worked directly with CEO owner to work on Commercial Real Estate Development. Buying/ Selling / Leasing etc. Civic/Municipal /Charity Organizations.Served in Local Government Councilman at large. Deputy mayor, Council President, Mayor twice under 2 forms of government as Council Appointed and directly elected. First Elected Mayor in Old bridge after change in Firm to Faulkner Act Strong Mayor. Was Exec Director of OB Economic Development Corp. Chairman OB MUA. Total years with all positions 25 Years. Civic/Charity …Many local org Little League, Pop Warner, Rec Leagues etc. Elks, Jaycees, YMCA, OB Bd./Ed. Foundation. K of C ,Raritan Bay Hospital . All services almost 50 years. Was active in getting Hospital to OB and served 20 years on Bd of Dir. Chaired the FOUNDATION.
Midge was born and raised in Old Bridge, New Jersey and attended and graduated from Cedar Ridge High School. She then graduated from Susquehanna University, in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania with a BA in Spanish and a minor in Art History. While there, she participated in a study abroad program, living and studying in Segovia, Spain. She later earned a Masters’ Degree in the Art of Teaching from Marygrove College.
After working for the Manhattan DA’s Office in the Special Projects Bureau, Midge changed careers and began teaching in 1998. She has been teaching Spanish for 23 years, 21 of them in Old Bridge Township. Over her career she has taught grades two through high school.
In 2000, Midge met and married her husband John, a fourth generation farmer and business owner in Old Bridge. As a farmer’s wife and partner, she has many jobs on the farm. Planting, picking, staffing, greenhouse work, taking care of and feeding animals, working at tailgate markets, paperwork, keeping records, promoting their business through social media, community outreach and just about anything else that needs to be done. She also helps John in the running of Browntown Bus Service, Inc., a school bus contacting company and airport service.
Midge serves as a member of the Middlesex County Board of Agriculture and was the first woman to serve as President of the Board from 2016-2018. She has been involved with the Chamber of Commerce for nearly 20 years.
Nora L Schmitz is our principal accountant at Litz Tax & Consulting. Nora is an Enrolled Agent licensed by the Internal Revenue Service. Nora has an MBA in Business Administration and Management, Bachelors in Accounting and Business Finance, a Fellowship from National Tax Practioner’s Institute, Associates in Applied Science.
Nora represents clients Nationwide for IRS and State audits for personal taxes, sales tax, workman’s comp and business taxes. Nora is a member of the National Association of Enrolled Agent, an IRS Acceptance Agent.
Bob is a lifelong Old Bridge resident graduating from Cedar Ridge High School. He is married to Regina and they have two children, Meagan and Ryan. Bob has volunteered with the South Old Bridge Fire Company for 40 years and is a retired Fire Captain after 27.5 years of service.He is the Chief of Fire Administration for Fire District #3 in Old Bridge.
Having grown up on Long Island, Jason's favorite sports teams are the New York Islanders, New York Mets and New York Giants. His first car was a 2008 Ford Explorer Sport Trac. A vehicle to this day that he will say was his favorite. He also runs the dealership podcast called the All American Auto Mall in Old Bridge Updates podcast.