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Paul Pullia: always
connected to the community
by Gabe Donio
I liked what Paul Pullia’s
oldest son P.J. said to me when we were speaking
about his father, who passed away on September
27 at age 75.
“He knew that as hard as you work, it was also
OK to have a good time,” P.J. Pullia said.
It brought a smile, and it will to anyone who
knew Paul Pullia and is reading this right now.
He did like to have a good time, and everyone
around him, whether it was friends or family,
was guaranteed a good time too.
“We’ve had a lot of laughter in our lives, our
family. We had a great time together,” his wife
Marjorie – everyone knows her as Margie – said.
Let me backtrack a bit, Hammonton-style. My
grandmother, Ida Bilazzo and her husband Frank
had one child, my mother Angela. My
grandmother’s sister, Gilda, married M. L.
Ruberton. They had two daughters, Dorothy
Berenato and Margie. While they are my mother’s
first cousins, they’re really all like sisters.
Dorothy’s husband Andy and Paul became like
brothers. They were all aunts and uncles to me.
Hammonton often is either praised or chided for
its familial connections; the term “close-knit”
is so often used to describe the town that it is
beyond a cliché.
And yet, that term is the best way to describe
Hammonton, and it all starts in the homes that
line our streets, and the families that live in
them, connected to the town for generations.
The Pullias are one of those families, and Paul
Pullia, who lost his own immediate family
members far too early, was deeply connected to
his own family. His children remembered how he
never missed a game – even away games. If there
was an event involving kids or grandkids, he was
there. Those familial ties were bound tightly –
you could hear it in the voices of his daughters
Michele and Mindy this week.
Work was an extension of the family life. His
two sons entered the business, P.J. on the
insurance side, Mickey on the real estate side.
The second generation taught the third
generation, and the business is continuing in
its 98th year.
With a wife and four children and a thriving
business, you wouldn’t think there would have
been time for Paul Pullia to become as involved
as he did with the community at large. But those
ties that bind only became stronger for him when
he was volunteering or giving back to the town,
whether it was with the church, the school, the
hospital, or a civic organization.
Because of my own familial ties to the Pullias,
I grew up with holidays and other events that
would bring me in close contact with them.
Later, when this newspaper started, I counted M.
L. Ruberton Agency among The Gazette’s first
advertisers. If I ever had questions or needed
some direction about one issue or another in
town, I knew I could stop in at Uncle Paul’s
office and he would have time to give me some
insight.
Looking back, I realize that he probably saw it
as helping out a member of his family and the
community at the same time. I know I’ll never
forget how generous he was with two of the most
valuable commodities: time and knowledge.
It meant a lot to me, and it still does.
I’m sure I’m just one of many people Paul Pullia
affected that way.
Hammonton won’t be the same without him.
Gabe Donio is the publisher of The Gazette.

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