Dr. James Richard Mazzara

James Richard Mazzara, 91, of Hackensack, New Jersey, passed away on October 15, 2015. He was born to the late Andrew and Theresa Mazzara, October 5, 1924, in Lyndhurst, New Jersey. Richard graduated magna cum laude in Greek Honors from St. Francis Xavier High School in New York City in 1941. He was a cadet company commander in the Xavier Regiment. He also attended Cornell University before being accepted and studying for his medical degree at Georgetown University Medical School. He was a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He married the late Ruth Doris Fleming from Wood-Ridge, New Jersey, in November, 1948, and they lived together in Washington DC, while he did his internship and residency, before relocating to Bergen County, New Jersey in 1953. Richard was a general surgeon working at Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, New Jersey from 1953 to 2003. He served as both the Chief of Surgery as well as the Director of Surgery at Holy Name. Following his retirement from Holy Name Hospital, Richard continued to serve in a non-surgical capacity assisting with routine physical and insurance exams for several years. A devoted husband and father, Rich committed many years to attending to the physical and medical needs of his wife, Ruth, before she passed away. He also loved to visit his family in Florida, the Washington DC area, and the west coast. For his entire family life has was a caregiver. He was a great surgeon, very highly regarded by his patients and their families. Richard was, as both a husband and father, a great provider to all of his family members. He truly cared for and took care of his wife in her worst hours. He handled so much, never complained, and bore the 'burden' heroically. He was also a kind, caring, and compassionate man to those outside his immediate family, even strangers. Richard is survived by seven children: Andrew Mazzara of State College, Pennsylvania; Cynthia Mazzara-Doherty of Kirkland, Washington; Richard Mazzara of Hood River, Oregon; James Mazzara of Allendale, New Jersey; Jeanne Metz of Frederick, Maryland; Gerard Mazzara of Hackensack; and Anne Mazzara of Gambrills, Maryland. He also is survived by thirteen grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren. Friends and family are invited for visitation Monday, October 19, from 9-11AM at the Volk Leber Funeral Home, 789 Teaneck Rd., Teaneck. Funeral service at 11AM, at the funeral home. Entombment to follow, George Washington Memorial Park, Paramus. For more information and to view Richard’s tribute page, please visit volkleber.com