Obituary of Col. Leonard J. Tharney

Colonel Leonard J. Tharney, (Ret.), 88, of Lawrenceville, with distinguished careers in the military and education, died peacefully at home on Saturday February 24, 2018 with his loving wife by his side. Born in New Haven, CT he was a resident of Lawrenceville for the past 35 years. He began his military career in 1947 with Battery A, 696th AFA Battalion in the Lawrenceville Armory. In 1951 he was commissioned a 2nd. Lt and was stationed at Ft. Sill Oklahoma where with additional training became qualified as a Nuc Weapons Officer, Recon & Survey Officer, Battery Executive Officer and Battery Commander and served on the Battalion staff. From 1961-1969 Col. Tharney was a member of the Div. Arty staff and became qualified as a Nuc, Bio and Chemical Weapons Officer and as a Joint Air-Ground Operations Officer and then returned to Ft. Sill as a gunnery instructor. In 1970 he was reassigned as a Battalion Commander, a position he held for 3 years. That was followed by a 2 year assignment as the Executive Officer of the 112th Artillery Group. Colonel Tharney’s next assignment was that of Commandant of the NJ Military Academy for 3 years. While in that position he also served a tour at the Command & General Staff College as an instructor in the Tactics Dept. After finishing at the Academy he spent the next 6 months at the Dept. of Defense in Lawrenceville assisting in the planning for the Command and Control HQ organization of which he became the first Commander of that organization. In November of 1989 he was officially retired from the Army National Guard. A graduate of the College of New Jersey, Class of 1954, he began his teaching career in the Laboratory School at the college. He then returned in 1963 to join the education faculty. Paralleling his academic duties at the college with his military career he was a leading evaluator for the American Council on Education on the award of academic credit for military service. He chaired the Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education from 1988 to 1992 and was one of the founding members of the College’s International Studies Program. During the academic year of 1984-1985 he was selected as an Exchange Professor to a college in England. In addition to his degree from the College of New Jersey, he has a Master’s Degree from Rutgers University and did extensive graduate studies at Columbia University and Lehigh University. He was also a member, past president and served on the Board of Trustees of People to People International, past president of the Trenton New Jersey chapter of People to People, and a member of the Polish Arts Club of Trenton. A measure of his care for students over his long career was the dedication of the 1966 yearbook where it was noted of his willingness of putting students and school before himself. In 1998 he was presented by the college with The Distinguished Service Award recognizing his exceptional service to the College, the Alumni Association and the College’s students. He was recognized in editions of Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Education, Who’s Who in the World, the Dictionary of International Biography and the International Directory of Distinguished Leadership. He was also the recipient of the United States Presidential Citation in appreciation of his long career in the military. The family would also like to thank Vitas Healthcare for their dedication to his hospice care. Son of the late Bartholomew and Lillian Tharney he is survived by his wife, Denise Gauvin-Tharney; his daughters, Karen Verrecchia and Linda Lederer; his grandchildren, Abigail, Ainsley and Calvin; his siblings, Thaddeus Tharney, Rita Bare, Marie Casey and Joan Petruska. Leonard’s funeral services will begin on Thursday, March 1, 2018 at 10 AM at Poulson & Van Hise Funeral Directors, 650 Lawrence Road, Lawrenceville, NJ. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 AM in the Church of St. Ann, Lawrenceville. Burial will follow in the Lawrenceville Cemetery. Visitation for family and friends will be held on Wednesday from 6 to 9 PM and again on Thursday morning from 9 to 10 AM at the funeral home. Memorial contributions to honor Leonard may be made to either the American Heart Association, 1 Union St. Suite 301, Robbinsville, NJ 08691 www.heart.org or to The College of New Jersey Foundation, 2000 Pennington Road, Ewing, NJ 08628-0718 www.tcnjfoundation.tcnj.edu.