John Presti

Hackensack, N.J. — John B. Presti, 85, of Hackensack, N.J. passed away Tuesday, May 17, 2022, surrounded by loved ones. John was born Aug. 1, 1936, in Stamford, and was the son and grandson of Italian immigrants.

As a child, he loved the

Boy Scouts and took pride in earning his Eagle Scout badge. John was foremost a scholar and was valedictorian of his high school class at St. Basil’s in Stamford in 1954. He made his entire family proud as he was the first to attend college, earning his BS in chemical engineering from the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) in 1958. John spent most of his career as a chemical engineer, working on waste management environmental solutions, for companies in the tri-state area such as General Dynamics, Kupper Associates, BE&K Environmental and Philipps Bros. Amongst his other professional accomplishments, he co-authored a FE/EIT Test Preparation Guide for engineering students. Before retiring, John took up teaching computer programming and computer software classes at Gibbs College and Norwalk Community College in Connecticut. As a retiree, he worked part time assisting with data for Mountainside Hospital in New Jersey.

John’s proudest achievement was his family to whom he dedicated his life. In 1970, he eloped to Puerto Rico, with his wife and longtime companion Gloria (Paulson) Presti. He was a devoted and loving father to their two children, Andréa and her husband Bobby Hewitt and John B. Presti Jr. and his wife Mary Varghese Presti. He was a beloved grandfather of Juliet Hewitt and John “Jack” Presti. One of his greatest joys in life was the precious time he spent in retirement caring for Juliet when she was young. John is predeceased by his loving parents, John L. Presti and Vincenza (Vitti) Presti, whom he cared for in her later years; as well as his brother Achille “Oggie” Presti; and his sisterin-law Joan Presti.

John had a passion for politics and was always prepared for a good-natured argument. He loved history, reading, old movies, pralines and cream ice cream, opera, and Dixieland jazz.

Family will be holding a private memorial and cremation. A memorial for family and friends to be held at a later date. As an expression of sympathy, memorial contributions in John’s memory may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association http://act.alz.org/ goto/John_B_Presti.