Morris Stern

The Hon. Morris (Mickey) Stern, 72, of Millburn died Feb. 12, 2014. He was born in Newark.

Judge Stern was a partner in the law firm of Stern, Dubrow, and Marcus for 30 years, first in South Orange and then in Maplewood. He specialized in commercial litigation and transactions. During that time, he was also an adjunct and visiting professor at Rutgers University School of Law, teaching bankruptcy and commercial law on a regular basis. In 2001, he was appointed as Judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, Newark. He continued working and writing until his death.

He graduated from Weequahic High School, Newark, in 1958. He earned a BS in industrial engineering from Lafayette College in 1962. He was an honors graduate of Rutgers University School of Law, where he was an editor of the Law Review and Dean’s Award recipient upon graduation in 1965. He received his LLM from New York University’s School of Law in 1975.

After law school, he served as law clerk to the Hon. Robert A. Matthews, Superior Court of New Jersey, Chancery Division, Hudson County.

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From 1966 to 1968, he was on active duty as a 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps.

He served on a number of state boards and bar committees, including as commissioner of the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority, public member of the New Jersey Insurance Underwriting Association (New Jersey Fair Plan), chair of the Supreme Court of New Jersey’s District Ethics Committee, and member of the editorial board of the New Jersey Law Journal.

Active in his community, he was a Maplewood Township Planning Board member and an elected member of the Township Committee, where he was the facilitator of the Maplewood Jitney Program and an early proponent of the Springfield Avenue police station.

Predeceased by a son, Benjamin, in 2005, he is survived by his wife of 51 years, Ronnie; his son, Matthew (Mary) of McMinnville, Ore.; his daughter, Ilene (Michael) Bunis of Brookline, Mass.; and three grandchildren.

Services were held Feb. 18 with arrangements by Bernheim-Apter-Kreitzman Suburban Funeral Chapel, Livingston. Memorial contributions may be made to Columbia High School Scholarship Fund (CHSSF), Ben Stern Memorial, P.O. Box 315, Maplewood, NJ 07040.