Tireless community advocate bids farewell
Farber volunteered for numerous causes and groups in Monroe
BY JESSICA SMITH Staff Writer
Look out, Chevy Chase, Md. … Here comes Leonora Farber.

Leonora Farber

After 20 years of working to make Monroe Township a better place, the avid community activist is moving on. She will leave the remarkable legacy of her leadership in virtually every area of the town's workings.

"It's very important to be involved in local politics," Farber said. "People complain, and they've got themselves to blame."

The longtime resident shows a record that backs up her statements.

After retiring from her job as an English teacher in New York City, Farber and her husband decided to make the move to Monroe. Before they were due to move to their new home in the Greenbriar at Whittingham adult community, he died suddenly.

"I moved in as a widow, and became active in the community," Farber said.

Active is an understatement. Farber served on the Township Council from 1994 to 2001, and branched out to leave her mark on, and sometimes create, entities that helped to make Monroe what it is today.

"Lee Farber represented the extreme in being the best of the best," Mayor Richard Pucci said during Monday's council meeting, when he presented Farber with a key to the township. "It was always the top level, and that was day in and day out for the whole time she served us. Lee has truly been outstanding as a representative to all of us."

As a founder of the League of Women Voters in Monroe 19 years ago, Farber took on the task of doing a study on the township as part of the process. She became intrigued after conducting interviews with the utilities authority and planning department.

"I said, 'I could do that,'" Farber said.

The study gave birth to a book that is now distributed to new residents, titled "Know Your Township," penned by Farber.

From there, Farber served as chairwoman of the township's environmental commission for five years, starting in 1990. She was a founder, as well as the council liaison, to the town's Cultural Arts Commission. As one of the original members and council liaison to the Americans With Disabilities Act Committee, Farber helped to ensure that Monroe was in compliance with the law regarding disabled individuals. She chaired the Citizens' Review Board for the Training School for Boys for many years, after escapes and overcrowding called for monitoring of the facility.

"Our goal at the time was actually to eliminate that facility," Farber said. "It was a dinosaur. But there have been tremendous improvements."

At the county level, Farber has served on the Farmland Preservation Board, a group that has helped preserve the rural character of the township. At the state level, she served as political action chair of the New Jersey Teachers' Union.

The first and only female member of the Monroe Township Municipal Utilities Authority, Farber is still serving on that board, which she will leave at the end of the month.

"I do hope that I'm replaced by another woman," Farber said.

She has also been a longtime member of the Monroe Township Library board of trustees.

"I've been here to see no library, a library in the basement of the municipal building, a free-standing library, and now I was here to see the groundbreaking of a new, expanded facility," Farber said.

Aside from being honored by the township, Farber will be recognized by her neighbors at Greenbriar on Dec. 12 for her service. She has been a board member of the civic association since its inception, working as an advocate and chairwoman of the political action committee. Farber also founded the single homeowners' group at Greenbriar, after seeing discrimination against them by developers, she said.

Members of the council lauded Farber for her vigilant work in the town, saying she would be greatly missed. Farber seemed to impart particular inspiration for the women on the council.

"I was always so in awe of you and the way you present yourself," Councilwoman Joanne Connolly told Farber at the meeting. "This is kind of bittersweet for me. Now is your time to spend with your biological family, but you'll always have a family here in Monroe."

Councilwoman Leslie Koppel-Egierd, the newest member of the town's governing body, had similar feelings. When she was a candidate to replace Councilman John Riggs, a member of the community questioned her ability to do the job because she is the mother of three young children. Farber spoke up on her behalf, she said. "Having worked hard for women's rights, I was very taken aback from that kind of statement," Farber said. "That's what women's rights are all about."

Farber recently had the chance to meet a woman who has been inspiring to her, when she introduced Madeleine Albright, the first female secretary of state, at a campaign

event for Hillary Clinton at the Forsgate Country Club.

"I was so impressed," Farber said.

Judging by the comments of town officials, Farber has done some impressing of her own with her tireless work for the community.

"You know the old maxim: when you need something done, you ask a busy person," Farber said. "I'm not a card player and I'm terrible at crafts, but I do enjoy politics, and I do enjoy activism."

Farber does find time outside of her community work to enjoy her favorite pastimes of playing the piano, attending the theater and reading. When she moves in five weeks, Farber said, she will be closer to her family, and able to spend more time with her grandchildren.

"I've been here for exactly 20 years," Farber said. "I've made a lot of friends, but I have no family here in New Jersey," Farber said.

In Chevy Chase, she will be in close proximity to her daughter Mindy, an attorney, and three of her four grandchildren. She also has a son, Barry, who lives in Massachusetts.

Though Farber is looking forward to some downtime with her loved ones, she plans to continue her work in the political arena. She said community involvement will remain a priority, and her proximity to Washington, D.C., makes volunteer work for Congressman Rush Holt a likely possibility.

"I would like to be involved in the national campaign for president," Farber said.

While people in the township could not say enough to thank Farber for all she has done, she had words of thanks to them, as well.

"Thank you for giving me the opportunity and your confidence to serve this town on so many different levels," Farber said. "Thank you for sending this town in a positive direction ... and keeping it on course during your outstanding leadership. Thank you for your friendship and support these years. You have been my extended family, and I will hold you all in my affection. I hope to remain a small part of Monroe, though I will be 200 miles away. God bless you all."