Conrad H.F. Spring Obituary
Conrad Henry Frederick Spring, age 84, of Pompton Plains passed away peacefully on Tuesday, December 17, 2019 surrounded by his loving family. As a husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, cousin, engineer, college lacrosse player, skier, tennis and squash player, and walking unpaid Grey Goose advertisement— he leaves behind a familial legacy stretching from Maine to South Carolina.
"Connie" was the first born to German immigrants Conrad and Anna Spring (nee Wenz) and grew up in Ridgefield, NJ. As a teenager, his family owned a summer cabin on Shady Lake in West Milford, NJ, where he ultimately met his future wife, Betty, who lived across the lake. Connie attended Dwight D. Morrow High School in Englewood, NJ and graduated with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology in 1956, followed by his Masters in 1964.
While at Stevens, he was a proud member of Sigma Nu and endured life-long friendships with his fraternity brothers and fellow lacrosse buddies. Connie's career as a mechanical engineer upon graduation began with Bell Labs in Whippany, NJ, where for 16 years, he worked on the design and development of anti-ballistic missile systems.
From 1972 to 1984, he was in charge of the Department of Physical Design and Telephone Building Engineering. The final leg of his career brought him to Bell Communications Research where he headed the Network Physical Protection and Information Exchange Management Department. He retired in 1992. Upon his retirement, Connie spent the majority of his time supporting his family in various ways—supplying his knowledge and labor on endless home improvement projects and gathering family and friends together in Maine on the Five Kezar Ponds and Moosehead Lake for lobsters, steamers, happy hours, music and sunsets.
The fierce support of his children and grandchildren through their college educations were his priority and his gift. Additionally, for 19 years he was treasurer of Corbe, Inc., which protected the interests of retirees and actives of Bell Communications and Telcordia Technologies regarding their pensions, 401Ks and medical benefits.
He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Elizabeth "Betty" Spring (nee Spano), his four children—Kathleen Spring of Irmo, SC, Susan Spring Smith of Pompton Plains, Brian Spring and wife, Stacy, of Kinnelon, and Linda Mycock and her husband, Jim of Windham, ME; his five grandchildren—James and Megan Smith, Joseph and Elizabeth Mycock, and Melissa Spring; his two sisters Carol Farbanish and husband, Robert, of Morris Plains, Elizabeth Newkirk and husband, Gary, of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and sister-in-law, Sister Mary D. Spano.
Connie is also survived by many nieces and nephews and many close friends. Friends may visit with the family from 4-8pm on Friday, December 20, 2019 at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Rd, Wayne. Funeral Services will be held 9am on Saturday, December 21 at the funeral home, followed by a 10am Mass of celebration at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, 155 West Parkway, Pompton Plains.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the John Theurer Cancer Center of Hackensack University Medical Center, in memory of Conrad H.F. Spring.
