Ex-NJ State Police Trooper, Longtime Wall Resident, Dies At 71

WALL, NJ - A former New Jersey State Police Trooper was laid to rest in Monmouth County this week after a battle with an illness he contracted while responding to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks at the World Trade Center.

New Jersey State Police troopers, joined by NJSP Superintendent Colonel Patrick Callahan, paid their respects to former Lieutenant Gerald T. Barbato at a mass at St. James Church in Red Bank, and later a burial at Fairview Cemetery in Middletown, police officials said in a statement.

“Rest in peace sir, we will never forget,” state police said in a statement. You can view photos from the mass and burial here.

Barbato, a Wall Township resident since 1997 and former resident of Shrewsbury, Fair Haven and Middletown, passed away at his home on Jan. 16, his obituary reads. A lifelong congregant of St. James Church and Seton Hall University graduate, Barbato served with the New Jersey State Police for 31 years, retiring in 2004.

Barbato was also a custom home builder at the Shore, even constructing homes for his three children, his obituary reads.

In lieu of flowers, the Barbato family requests donations to be made to the Division of Plastic, Reconstructive and Oral Surgery at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (3401 Civic Center Blvd., Philadelphia, P.a.).