Obituary of Peter E Letso

Peter Edward Letso, 86 of North Plainfield, passed away on August 17, 2013 at Overlook Medical Center in Summit. Peter was born in North Plainfield, was a lifelong North Plainfield resident and was inducted into the North Plainfield High School Alumni Association Hall of Fame in 2001. He loved being "Pops" to his 4 children and 9 grandchildren. He enjoyed traveling throughout the U.S. by auto and spending summers in Chadwick Beach. He frequently visited Atlantic City and was an avid gardener. He was a WWII Navy Veteran, a 1950 graduate of Seton Hall College and worked at Dun and Bradstreet for over 35 years before retiring in 1986. Before and after his Navy service, he played professional baseball in the Philadelphia Phillies farm system. Pete pitched in the Interstate, Carolina and New England Leagues and is a lifetime member of the National Association of Professional Ball Players of America. After his professional career, he kept his love of baseball alive as a little league coach for 10 years and then as a North Plainfield Recreation Coordinator for over 20 years, overseeing nearly 150 baseball games per year while encouraging children to love the game. He was predeceased by his beloved wife of 58 years, Winnie, in 2006. Surviving are his daughter, Debra Pace and her husband Robert of Cranford; his sons, Peter E., Jr. and his wife Catherine of Hillsborough; Michael and his wife Tracey of Silver Beach and Robert and his wife Kristen of Martinsville; his grandchildren, Ryan, Nicholas and Dana Fanelli; Timothy and Christopher Letso; U.S. Army Captain Derek Johnson, his wife Morgan and Chase Johnson; Emily and Olivia Winnie Letso. Funeral Services will be held on Tuesday, August 20, 2013 at 9:00 a.m. at Higgins Home For Funerals, Watchung followed by a 10:00 a.m. Mass of Resurrection at St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, North Plainfield. Interment will follow at Hillside Cemetery, Scotch Plains. Visitation will be on Monday from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions can be made to the Community Food Bank of New Jersey 31 Evans Terminal, Hillside, NJ 07205 or cfbnj.org.