Bruce A. Tritsch passed away on Sunday, May 5, 2024, at the Country Home in Morris Plains. He was 91.
Bruce was born on Dec. 27, 1932, in Brooklyn. He grew up in Maplewood with his parents, Kate and Milton Tritsch. He attended the Maplewood Public Schools and graduated from Columbia High School in Maplewood.
After high school, Bruce graduated from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, then attended Rutgers University Law School, graduating with a JD.
He was admitted to the New Jersey Bar in 1958. In 1973, he was admitted to the Florida Bar. He was also admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States District Court, and the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Bruce was in the first group of lawyers to earn the designation of Certified Civil Trial Attorney by the New Jersey Supreme Court in March 1982.
He was a founder and charter member of the Union County Chief Justice Hughes Inn of Court. He also served for a number of years as an arbitrator in Middlesex County and Union County. Bruce was recertified as a Certified Trial Attorney on several occasions before his retirement in 2017.
Over the years, Bruce maintained law offices in Rahway, Livingston, Fairfield and Hamburg, where he also resided since 2005. He was engaged in handling primarily the defense of bodily injury claims and insurance coverage matters. He also handled a number of major cases for bodily injury claimants. In addition to numerous jury trials in major cases, he also handled 30 to 40 arbitrations a year before his retirement.
Bruce loved to play golf and had memberships at different times at Shackamaxon Country Club, Crestmont Country Club and Crystal Springs Golf Resort.
Bruce was predeceased by his first wife, Lisa Tritsch, and his son, Steven Tritsch, as well as by his parents, Kate and Milton Tritsch; older brother, Joseph Tritsch; younger brother, Thomas Tritsch; and niece, Andrea Weinstein.
He leaves behind his wife, Joan Kaye; stepdaughter, Jenna Haggerty and her husband Christopher; stepson, Jarrod DePasquale and his wife Chrissy; as well as stepgrandchildren, Nicholas Depasquale, Emma DePasquale and Holly Haggerty; his sister, Marjorie Weinstein, who still resides at the family home in Maplewood; and daughter, Marla Tritsch. He also leaves behind two granddaughters, Samantha Tritsch Fuld and Alexandra Tritsch Zelman.
A funeral will be held Wednesday, May 8 at 11 a.m. at Bernheim Apter Kreitzman Suburban Funeral Chapel, 68 Old Short Hills Road, Livingston. Friends may visit before the service from 10:15 to 10:45 a.m. Burial will follow at B’nai Abraham Memorial Park in Union.
To leave a message of condolence, go to www.bernheimapterkreitzman.com