Walter Andrew Kocum

Walter Andrew Kocum, age 92, of 70 Brentwod Circle, Bloomsburg, died at his home at 12:30 p. m. Saturday, February 1, 2020, after an illness.

Born in Newark, New Jersey on April 14, 1927, he was a son of the late Anthony  F. and Elizabeth (Wolverton)  Kocum. He resided in Scott Township since 2001; Mendham, New Jersey from 1965 to 2001 and in Florham Park, N.J. for 13 years prior to that. He was a 1945 graduate of West Side High School, Newark, N.J.

Walter was a World War II veteran having enlisted in the U. S. Navy in April, 1945 and served onboard the USS Helena until August, 1946. Upon his discharge he became a tool and die maker apprentice for Westinghouse, Corp. in Newark, working there until he retired in 1983. He then worked for Weiss-Aug in East Hanover, New York until 1989 when he retired again.

He was a member of the West Side Memorial VFW Post in Newark. He volunteered at the Pequest Trout Hatchery, Oxford, N.J. as an instructor in fly casting and fly tying. He tied thousands of flies and made his own fly rods.  Walter enjoyed saltwater fishing out of Atlantic Highlands, N.J. An avid bowler, hunter, fly fisherman and skeet shooter, he enjoyed refinishing old steamer trunks and gardening.

Walter enjoyed spending time at the New Jersey Shore (Long Beach Island) and in Florida.

He was preceded in death by  his wife of 56 years, the former Eleanor F. Geldhauser, on Oct. 18, 2004 and by a  brother, Donald Kocum.

He is survived by his daughter, Nori G., wife of Erick A. Lewis, who resided with him.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2020, at 4:00 p. m. in the Dean W. Kriner, Inc., Funeral Home & Cremation Service, 325 Market St., Bloomsburg, with the Rev. Dr. Elizabeth McCormick, pastor of First Presbyterian Church officiating. The family will receive friends from 3-4 p. m. Friends may remember Walter with a contribution to Columbia County Trout Unlimited at www.TU.org PA