Meet the “Reenstras”

Willard A. Reenstra - Willard A. Reenstra was on the Rutherford Borough Council for 25 years starting in 1963 and a Council Liaison to the Civil Rights Commission for most of that time. Willard served as the Liaison to the Rutherford Fire Department, the Planning Board as well as the Police and Finance Committees. He was instrumental in assisting the town with the renovations of the Nereid Boat House, including original design drawings for the rehab.  He served on the Joint Sewer Commission (a combined effort in the Meadowlands with East Rutherford and Carlstadt), and the Passaic River Coalition.

In the mid-1940s, Willard studied at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and received a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master's degree in Physics.  Willard first worked for AT&T in New York City and later with Bell Labs where he developed several patents and was involved with the research and first laying of fiber optic cables and the creation of underground vaults for telephone lines and equipment.   After retiring from Bell Labs, Willard spent the last 5 years of his life helping the Paterson Habitat for Humanity with home designs, building, and fundraising.  Reenstra Court in Paterson was named for him. 

Marjorie Wood Reenstra – Marjorie was instrumental in the development of The Meadowlands Museum which was started by a group of PTA moms in 1961 who had approached the Rutherford School Board to see how much local history the school children would learn in their classes. Marjorie was heavily involved in all aspects of the Meadowland’s Museum for over 40 years. Marjorie was also on the first Rutherford Historic Preservation Committee / Commission and participated in the creation of the first Rutherford Historic Site Inventory.

Marjorie was one of the first women to graduate from Newark College of Engineering (now NJIT) with a degree in chemical engineering.  She also did coursework towards a Master’s degree at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute.  In 1948, after marrying Willard, Marjorie taught undergraduate chemical engineering for one year at Rensselaer. In 1950, Marjorie and Willard returned to Rutherford to a home on Riverside Terrace - a home which was built by Willard’s father, Aleck Reenstra, a contractor who built approximately 60 homes in Rutherford in his lifetime.

Together Willard and Marjorie Reenstra were involved with the Rutherford Congregational Church, including the church's Community Outreach programs. They were part of a group of Rutherford residents, known as the “Friends of the Foreign Students”, who became friends with and helped the foreign students at Fairleigh Dickinson University in the 1960s.  In 2012, the Borough of Rutherford honored them with the naming of a small park in their name, and in September of 2018 the town held a ceremony placing a marker in their memory, at the “Willard and Marjorie Reenstra Memorial Park”, located next to the Nereid Boat House on Riverside Avenue.

Editing by: Elisa Rosa