PHILLIPSBURG, NJ – The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission (DRJTBC) is mourning the recent passing of former Commissioner Gloria A. Decker, a lifelong Phillipsburg resident active in community activism, governmental service, and local business.
Mrs. Decker, aged 91, passed away on Monday. Decker served on the Commission from 1994 to 2003. She had been nominated to the post by former Governor Christine Whitman.
Upon her appointment to the Commission, Decker made it a mission to track down the whereabouts of golden state monuments that had been removed years earlier from their rightful positions atop the Northampton Street Bridge (the “free bridge”) between Easton, PA., and Phillipsburg. She later found them at the agency’s New Hope-Lambertville Toll Bridge Administration Building.
After Decker’s discovery, the monuments were dispatched to the Seward Johnson Atelier in Hamilton, N.J. The renowned sculpture facility restored the two sculptures so they could be reinstalled on their respective tower at each side of the bridge.
Mrs. Decker’s most recent involvement with the Commission occurred last November when she led the recital of the Pledge of Allegiance at a rededication ceremony and inaugural lighting of the newly rehabilitated Northampton Street Bridge.
Prior to her Commission appointment, Decker achieved a series of glass-ceiling-shattering governmental firsts, including first woman member on the Warren County Board of Taxation, first woman to lead a national or state lottery when she became the New Jersey Lottery’s executive director in 1977, and first woman to serve as Phillipsburg’s mayor and the first individual to hold that post under a newly established strong-mayor form of government in 1992.
“Gloria Decker was a distinguished public figure and a role model for countless women in New Jersey,” said Commission Chairman Aladar G. Komjathy. “She was a tireless advocate for her beloved Phillipsburg and for the entire State of New Jersey.”
“Gloria was a trailblazer,” said Commission Vice-Chairwoman Pam Janvey of Pennsylvania. “I recall her serving on the Commission during an important transitional period, as the agency established a professionally administered capital improvement program and initiated electronic toll collection through E-ZPass.”
“It was an honor to meet Gloria Decker at last November’s bridge rededication ceremony,” said Joe Resta, the Commission’s executive director. “It’s clear that she left an indelible mark during the roughly nine years that she served as a commissioner. We are truly indebted to dedication and service.”
