EMERSON—The portrait of notable Emersonian Peter Pepe will hang at Borough Hall once again. It was entrusted back to the borough by Pepe’s daughter Isabell Elliott during a recent visit.
According to Councilwoman Jill McGuire, Elliott stopped by with family members for a tour of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Borough Hall and to present the portrait to Mayor Danielle DiPaola.
Pepe was honored as Citizen of Emerson at Bergen County’s 300th anniversary in 1983.
A Navy veteran of WWI and a leader of local war support activities in WWII, he was a charter member of American Legion Post 269, Emerson. He also was a life member of the Emerson Regular Republican Club.
He was the first uniformed policeman in Emerson. He was a member of the Emerson Volunteer Fire Department for more than 30 years, and of the Exempt Firemen’s Association.
Before retiring in 1965, he was a carpenter with Local 15, Hackensack, which he also had served as president. During the Forties and Fifties, Pepe was the building inspector and a member of the Board of Adjustment in Emerson.
He died in 1989 at 89. In addition to his daughter Isabell, of Oradell, he left daughter Antoinette Goddin of Hillsdale, and his wife of 67 years, Rose Battaglia Pepe.
McGuire told Pascack Press, “Throughout his years living in Emerson, Pepe was known to be a regular attendee of mayor and council meetings at Borough Hall, rarely missing a meeting.”
She added that his connection to the borough extends beyond his service to the community, as he is also thought to be a subject in one of Emerson Borough Hall’s many murals, Pepe’s Gang.
In 2018, Emerson’s Borough Hall and its murals were given a Certificate of Eligibility by the New Jersey Historic Preservation Office for addition to the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places. (That same office called the murals priceless.)
At a recent meeting, the governing body unanimously agreed to display Pepe’s portrait, which was removed in a previous administration, back in Borough Hall — at the entranceway to council chambers, McGuire said.
It shares space in the building with a map of Emerson, images of historic homes of the Pascack Valley, and mayors’ portraits.
— With appreciation to Jill McGuire