Former Owner Of Wayne's Old Barn Milk Bar, A Longtime EMT, Dies At 93

WAYNE, NJ — Longtime first responder Jerry McMinn, who formerly owned a popular ice cream parlor Wayne alongside his late brother, has died at the age of 93.

McMinn died peacefully at his Pompton Lakes home on Wednesday, Aug. 7, according to an online obituary.

He was a U.S. Army veteran and had volunteered for the borough's First Aid Squad for more than 65 years, responding to hundreds of service calls.

Many Wayne residents and North Jersey natives also know him as the former owner of the now-shuttered Old Barn Milk Bar, where customers were treated to huge scoops of ice cream and other tasty treats. He and his brother Robert, who died in 2016, ran the beloved shop for 40 years.

McMinn met his wife Joan (Beshada) while volunteering in the emergency room at St. Joseph's Hospital in Paterson, and they married on Nov. 17, 1956. They lived in Pompton Lakes and raised three children: Laurie, Gerald, and Christine.

The Pompton Lakes-Riverdale First Aid Squad building has borne McMinn's name since 2010, and the squad also established an award in his name that same year. The EMS Council of NJ awarded him the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017, his obituary states.

McMinn officially retired from the First Aid Squad in 1986.

"Throughout his remarkable career, he responded to over 300 ambulance calls per year, delivered 13 babies, and saved countless lives," the squad said in a memorial post.

"But Jerry’s legacy is not just in the awards or the milestones; it is in the countless lives he touched and the spirit of service he instilled in all of us. His commitment, kindness, and spirit are the things we will carry forward, even as we mourn the loss of a true friend, mentor, and hero."

Memorial services took place on Sunday, and donations in McMinn's name can be made to the Pompton Lakes First Aid Squad, 700 Ramapo Avenue, Pompton Lakes, NJ 07442.

The scoop on an iconic Wayne landmark

The Old Barn Milk Bar was a fixture in town for 56 years before it closed in December 2001. Lines 100 people long were not uncommon at the Hamburg Turnpike hotspot. People would often wait an hour for a big cone of their favorite ice cream, and the place was always busy after Little League games.

The barn frame was reportedly built in 1790 from Dutch timber. Olaf Haroldson purchased the property in 1930 and opened an ice cream shop, as Patch reported previously. However, gas rationing and a bad economy forced Haroldson to sell it to Robert McMinn. He and Jerry operated the Milk Bar from 1948 to 1988.

Their sons later took over, and ran the business until it closed. The barn was disassembled and the pieces stored on the site of the historic Van Riper-Hopper House Museum on Berdan Avenue.

“It was a place where a lot of romances started and ended,” then-Wayne resident Tim Blixt told the New York Times in 2002.

There was an effort to bring back the beloved ice cream shop about 10 years ago, but it never came to fruition.