Peter J. Romer Obituary

Peter John Romer died on December 8, 2022 at age 77 after a courageous battle with Parkinson's Disease.

Pete is survived by his wife of almost 20 years, Susan, who he lived with in Mountainside with his beloved dog, Zoey, and cat, Tess. He was a devoted father to his daughter Jane (and husband Jigesh), step-daughters Allison (and husband Mikael), Lindsay, and Melanie (and husband Kevin). He also leaves behind 7 dear grandchildren: Sam, Ellie, Lilly, Nathaniel, Benjamin, Kaleb, and his namesake, John Peter.

Growing up playing Plainfield High School football, Pete loved sports. He coached Jane's Pony Tail Softball League in Watchung, was obsessed with Rutgers Football and listened to the Yankees on his transistor radio. He would often brag about his athletic daughters playing tennis, running marathons and walking and fundraising for Parkinson's research.

Pete enjoyed great success from building two successful title insurance agencies with his childhood best friend and business partner, Bruce Egan. They worked together for nearly 50 years, starting out searching in Union County and then starting an agency in Westfield. When they branched out to Somerset County, Pete mostly worked in the Somerville office. Being a well respected, top-notch searcher, he still enjoyed working in the Record Room with Susan, Allison and all his searcher friends.

Pete and Susan built a beautiful cabin on his 80 acre hunting property in the Poconos. They had apple trees, hiking trails, and a Kawasaki Mule to explore the property in. All the kids, friends, grandkids and dogs go up there to relax, cook, laugh and enjoy the amazing sunset views off the deck.

An avid sportsman, Pete traveled all over the world living his dreams of fishing and hunting. He fished in Iceland, Scotland, Alaska, Costa Rica, Belize and Panama. He belonged to the private Pequest Anglers Club where he loved to go fly fishing with his friends. He bought his grandson Sam a full size fishing pole when he was 2--he just couldn't wait to take him out on a boat. For fun at home, he carved beautiful wooden decoys and hand tied flies that he would use fishing.

Every year after Thanksgiving was the annual trip to the cabin for the opening of deer season. Pete never missed a year seeing his friends and hunted up until a few years ago. He also hunted turkey, got a double shot in grouse hunting and traveled to northern Canada for caribou and Maine for moose.

Having scores of friends at age 77 was a testament to the kind of guy Pete was, always there with an easy smile or a corny joke for you. His was a life well lived, he made his mark on many lives and won't soon be forgotten.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.