2011 Honoree: Henry Popp

Henry Popp moved to Mountain Lakes at age 12 from New York City and called it home until his death in November, 2009 just shy of his 92nd birthday.

He joined the Nation Guard in 1937  and was sent to Officer Candidate School. He was among the first wave of Americans shipped to the Pacific Theater during World War II, and fought on Leyte Island, Iwo Gima, Luzon and throughout the Philippines. He earned a Bronze Star with cluster.

After Japan surrendered, his company was assigned as part of the first occupation force in South Korea for a few months. He was overseas for almost 5 years before finally coming home. He married Audrey Whiting, another Laker, and they moved to 22 Maple Way, where they raised their two children. They were married for 44 years until Audrey’s death in 1990.

Henry stayed in the reserves and  became an expert on European Communism during the Cold War. He eventually retired as a full colonel.

In the 1950s, Henry started the Mountain Lakes Memorial  Day parade, and ran it single-handedly for almost forty years.

To anyone who grew up in town during the Baby Boom years, it was a rite of passage. Every Brownie, Girl Scout, Cub and Boy Scout, marched in the parade. It remains the largest civic gathering in town each year. It is a great example of one ‘man’s contribution, for which we all remain grateful.

Henry is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He was accorded a horse drawn caisson, a twenty-five piece military band, a 21 gun salute. It was his last Memorial Day Parade, and he would have loved it.