Beach Patrols Across NJ Guard Berkeley Beaches So Lifeguards Can Attend Funeral

BERKELEY, NJ — Beach patrols around the state guarded Berkeley’s beaches over Labor Day weekend so lifeguards could attend the funeral of their 19-year-old colleague who died on duty.

Keith Pinto, of Toms River, was fatally struck by lightning on Aug. 30 during a strike on the 21st Street Beach that injured seven others, including three other lifeguards, in South Seaside Park.

Pinto was laid to rest on Saturday at St. Joseph Cemetery following a funeral mass at the St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church in Toms River.

Berkeley Township's beaches were closed to swimming from Tuesday through Friday of last week to give patrol members time to grieve, Mayor Carmen Amato said.

South Seaside Park beaches were able to reopen Saturday with help from beach patrols in Monmouth, Ocean and Cape May counties, and retirees of the Berkeley Township Beach Patrol.

“Another day, another outpouring of support from around the state,” township officials wrote Sunday on Facebook. “Mayor Carmen Amato and Berkeley Recreation would like to thank lifeguards from Belmar Beach Patrol, Cape May Beach Patrol, Island Beach State Park Beach Patrol as well as former Berkeley Township Beach Patrol for all their help.”

Additional guards from Long Branch, Sea Girt and Barnegat Light assisted Berkeley's patrols on Saturday and Monday.

Amato also thanked Sea Girt Lifeguard Chief Tim Harmon, who helped organize the assistance effort.

Harmon, who is active with the U.S. Lifesaving Association, had arranged coverage for Cape May’s beach patrol after a 16-year-old lifeguard died in a boating accident on Aug. 20.

Lifeguards from nearly 20 beach patrols around the state pitched in to guard Cape May's beaches on Friday of the following week so lifeguards could attend the funeral for their colleague, Norman Inferrera III in Norristown, Pennsylvania.

“We put feelers out when our situation arose this summer and the way our response was up and down the coast to help us out, we felt we wanted to help out too,” said Cape May Beach Patrol Captain Marty Franco.

About 10 lifeguards from the Cape May Beach Patrol volunteered to drive up the coast to staff Berkeley's beaches over the holiday weekend, even though only a few guards were needed each day.

“All of us would have gone if we could have. It was that kind of thing,” Franco said.

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