Howard Paul Cantor

NOVEMBER 22, 1938 - MARCH 22, 2024

It is with a deep sense of loss and sadness that the family of Howard P. Cantor shares the news of his passing at home in Manchester on March 22 at the age of 85 from the result of Multiple System Atrophy. Howard was survived by his loving and devoted wife of thirty-nine years, Pam Lewis-Cantor, his son Richard (Barbara) Cantor, daughter Deborah Cantor-Adams, grandsons Brian and Eric Cantor, and Benjamin Cantor-Adams, brother William (Paula) Cantor, MD, sister-in-law Dr.Dorothy Cantor, sister-in-law Prudence ( (Mark) Turnamian, and many loving nieces, nephews and cousins. Howard‘s brother, Gerald Cantor, predeceased him.

Howard was born in Jersey City on November 22, 1938, the third and youngest son of Herman and Ysobl Cantor. He was raised in Jersey City, graduated from Stevens Hoboken Academy and the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business, and received an MBA from Pace University. Right after college he worked for Price-Waterhouse on Wall Street and passed the CPA exam. He was later appointed the Treasurer of National Insurance Associates in Paramus, New Jersey, a position he held for almost thirty years.

Before retiring to Manchester in 2019, Howard and Pam lived in Ramsey New Jersey for 35 years. Howard was active in civic affairs, serving as a member of the Zoning Board of Adjustment, the Planning board, and as a town Councilman.

Howard was a renaissance man. He enjoyed dining and going to the theatre in New York City with his wife and friends and often celebrated New Year’s Eve there. In his earlier years, he was a tennis and softball player and golfer. He was an avid Brooklyn Dodgers fan until they moved to California along with a Giants and Mets fan. He and Pam traveled to a dozen countries, frequently with his close friends Gina Lally and Bill Jaichner and he worked on an archeological dig in Israel. For many years, Howard and Pam enjoyed summer weeks in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, with Pam’s cousins, Norman and Sandra Lewis and David and Joyce Lewis.

He was smart as a whip, completing the New York Times crossword puzzle every day (in ink!), and playing a winning hand in bridge for years. He continued playing bridge right up to the very end, and participated in game night every month with neighbors in his Manchester community.

Howard’s gentle love, grace, wit and dignity will be profoundly missed by all whose lives he touched.

Funeral services will be held 11:30 AM on Monday, March 25, 2024, at Gutterman & Musicant Jewish Funeral Directors, 402 Park Street, Hackensack, NJ, at . Interment will follow at Cedar Park Cemetery, 735 Forest Avenue, Paramus, NJ. The family will observe Shiva at the home of Dr.and Mrs. William Cantor, 24 Birchwood Ln., Woodcliff Lake, NJ, immediately following the burial.