Dobenski was known by many as ‘Mr. Jamesburg’ BY SETH MANDEL Staff Writer JAMESBURG — Loving, caring, compassionate, dedicated, kind. Henry “Spud” Dobenski, according to his friends and family, was all of those and more. Dobenski, a lifelong borough resident of Jamesburg, died Aug. 13 at his home. He was 65. “He was an all-around fine brother and a fine person,” said Gerald Dobenski, Spud’s brother. “Our family, and the town, is really at a loss. He will be sadly missed by his family and friends.” Spud was a charter and life member of the Jamesburg Elks Lodge, a member and commander of American Legion Post 127, a former councilman, and member of the Planning and Zoning boards in Jamesburg, the town he often referred to as Pleasant Valley. “I never saw anyone as devoted to a town as he was,” said council President Otto Kostbar. “We’re really, really going to miss him. He’s been involved everywhere in the town.” Kostbar said Dobenski’s devotion to the community was possibly best represented by his work organizing the town’s Memorial Day parade, which he ran for over 25 years. “We all come to these parades every year, it’s one of the high events of the year in Jamesburg,” Kostbar said. “We come and we enjoy ourselves, and we leave and we forget about all the hard work that goes into putting something like this together.” Kostbar made mention of this at the most recent parade, to give the town an opportunity to honor Dobenski’s efforts. “And who would have known it was going to be his last parade,” he said. Kostbar said Dobenski’s love for the borough was such that he even named his real estate agency JHS ’57, after his high school class. Longtime friend Tommy Allen said Dobenski never missed a birthday or anniversary of any member of his friends’ families. “For my son’s first birthday, instead of bringing some kind of crazy toy the kid wouldn’t understand, what he did was he bought an oak tree, planted it in my backyard and had this plate engraved and put on a boulder under the tree, ‘Happy Birthday Tom Allen.’ “That tree is about 20 feet tall now,” Allen said. Allen said Dobenski would never visit just one home of a neighborhood at a time, but would go on what friends called “the Spuddy Dobenski Tour,” visiting every family in the area. “My kids call him uncle, and I think he’s probably godfather to I don’t know how many kids,” Allen said. Monroe resident and friend Al Ochsner said Dobenski would always put others before himself, and was known to many as “Mr. Jamesburg.” He said Dobenski was like a second father to his two sons, a recurring theme in Dobenski’s life. “Kids loved him, they just thought he was the greatest,” Ochsner said. “He was like a part of our family.” Ochsner said one local child, upon hearing the news of Dobenski’s passing, expressed aloud what everyone was thinking: Dobenski was one of a kind. “Who’s going to bring me cookies and cupcakes for my birthday?” the child asked. Childhood friend Roger Dreyling said Dobenski was civic-minded and, though he never married, was considered as family to everyone he knew. “He was always out there talking to people,” Dreyling said. “He was very social, liked to kid around and know what’s going on, and help where he can. He was very dedicated to trying to do good things for the town, make good decisions and do things the best way.” Ochsner said a college scholarship fund has been established in Dobenski’s honor. Since Dobenski was a star soccer player in town as a youth, the fund will be awarded to a boy or girl each year who has played soccer in elementary school and Monroe Township High School. Kostbar said the scholarship is an appropriate way to keep Dobenski’s memory on the minds of residents, though, he added, it won’t take much. “He may be gone, but he won’t be forgotten,” Kostbar said.