Obituary of Arthur Bledsoe

Arthur W. Bledsoe passed away peacefully at home on February 18, 2013. A resident of Mahwah for 40 years, Mr. Bledsoe was born in Gary, Indiana and also lived in Pittsburgh and Bucks County, PA. Following his graduation from Pennsbury High School, Yardley, PA, Mr. Bledsoe obtained a BS in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Finance and Commerce and then obtained his MBA from Temple University. While at Penn, Art developed friendships that would last throughout his entire life. He was a member of The Mask and Wig Club, ROTC, Taylor Air Society and Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity. After graduation, he began serving in the US Air Force, stationed at Nouasseur Air Base in Morocco in 1957. He was honorably discharged as Captain in 1967. Mr. Bledsoe held positions with companies including Colgate Palmolive, Singer Corporation, W. R. Grace and The Corinthian Group during his career in human resources which spanned over forty years. He was an adjunct professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University for several years. He retired form Hoffmann LaRoche in Nutley, NJ as Assistant Vice President - Director of Compensation and Benefits. After retirement, Art formed Bledsoe Consulting, LLC in Franklin Lakes, NJ. He also provided pro bono human resources consulting services to various organizations including the Episcopal Diocese of Newark, for which he was presented the Bishops Outstanding Service Award from Bishop John S. Spong. Art served over 20 years as trustee of Woods Services in Langhorne, PA. He was a member of St. John's Memorial Episcopal Church in Ramsey, NJ since 1973. Throughout his life, Art enjoyed global travel, music, and the theater, was an expert bridge player, an avid gardener and a Philadelphia sports fanatic. He loved time with his family through Boy Scouts, little league sports and other youth activities. In his earlier years, he was an outdoorsman, played golf, basketball and volleyball, loved photography and kept tropical fish among his favorite hobbies. Survivors include his wife of 55 years Alice (Emmy) DeCou Bledsoe, his son, Kenneth W. Bledsoe and his wife Kelly Jo and his daughter Cynthia C. Cueto and her husband Francis. "Pa" loved spending time with his five grandchildren - Olivia, Alexandra, Francesca, Emma and William. He is also survived by his brother George E. Bledsoe of Bloomington, IN, his sister-in-law Rachel DeCou Aversano and her husband Richard of Orange Park, FL and several nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be held on Sunday, March 10th at 2 PM at St. John's Memorial Episcopal Church 301 Main Street, Ramsey, NJ 07446. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to Woods Schools, PO Box 36, Langhorne, PA 19047-0036 or at www.woods.org , or St. John's Memorial Episcopal Church at www.stjohnsramsey.org. Arrangements were by Vander Plaat Funeral Home in Wyckoff www.vpfh.com.