Retired Police Chief Seth Stichler Dies At 96

GLOUCESTER TWP., NJ — Seth E. Stichler, a longtime Gloucester Township police officer and former chief, died Wednesday at the age of 96.

Stichler was a longtime resident of Blenheim, according to his obituary at Earle Funeral Home. The World War II veteran joined the township police department as an officer in 1960 and was promoted to chief of police in 1975. He remained chief until he retired in 1989.

The police department announced his death Thursday evening and remembered celebrating Stichler's 95th birthday with an emergency vehicle drive-by in April 2021 at his residence in Williamstown.

He is survived by his wife Mary R. Stichler (nee Fricker), his daughter Linda Stichler, and grandchildren Paul McGonigle and Laura Kosma, the obituary said. Stichler was also a member of the Lindenwold Moose Lodge #548 and enjoyed traveling through the U.S. with his wife.

"Seth and his wife loved taking their grandchildren to Disney World every year for their sixteen years of childhood," his family remembered. "He was always young at heart, never looking or acting his age, and at the age of 89 he rode the roller coaster at Busch Gardens with his grandkids."

A visitation for Stichler is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 28 from 9-11 a.m. at Earle Funeral Home (122 W. Church Street, Blackwood NJ 08012). The funeral will begin at 11 a.m., with urn entombment following immediately at the Gloucester County Veterans Cemetery in Williamstown.