Commissioner Louis J. Stellato is President of Stellato Funeral Homes and manager of the Lyndhurst location. He is a 1970 graduate of the University of Minnesota with a B.S.M.S. in Medical Science and a Major in Mortuary Science. Commissioner Stellato received his PhD in Funeral Service Education from the National Academy of Funeral Service.
He has performed graduate work in Thanatological Science at the University of Minnesota, Public Health Administration at New Jersey City University in Jersey City, and Value Development at Central State University in Oklahoma. Commissioner Stellato is a Certified Funeral Service Practitioner, a Certified Preplanning Consultant and a charter member of the National Funeral Ethics Association. A member of the University of Minnesota Alumni Association, he is also a member of the President’s Club.
After college, Commissioner Stellato served his country in the United States Air Force from 1970-1974, where he achieved the rank of Staff Sergeant and received an honorable discharge. He served on the Board of Commissioners of the Township of Lyndhurst from 1982-1997 and as Mayor from 1989-1997. During his tenure he was the Township’s Director of Public Affairs and Director of Public Works. Commissioner Stellato was a Trustee on the Lyndhurst Board of Education from 1973-1980, including three years as President. He is a member of the Lyndhurst High School Academic Hall of Fame. The Commissioner is the former Chairman of the Democratic Committee of Bergen County from 2011-2019.
Commissioner Stellato is a member of the National Funeral Directors Association, New Jersey State Funeral Directors Association, Preferred Funeral Directors and Bergen County Funeral Directors, where he served as president and as a member of the Board of Directors. He was named to the New Jersey State Board of Mortuary Science in 2005 by Governor Richard Codey and reappointed in 2008 by Governor Jon Corzine. Commissioner Stellato served as the Director of Administration of the Bergen County Medical Examiner’s Office from 2007-2010 and as Administrative Analyst from 2003-2006. He is currently a consultant and member of the Board of Regents of Eastwick College.
The Commissioner is proud of his current and past work in dozens of community service organizations. He has been a member of the Lyndhurst Chapter of Unico National for 42 years and is a Past President. He is a member and Past President of the Kiwanis Club of Lyndhurst, a member of the Lyndhurst B.P.O. Elks Lodge, the Lyndhurst Knights of Columbus, the American Legion, AMVETS and the Rotary Club. He is a member and Past President of the Lyndhurst Jaycees. Commissioner Stellato is the current Chairman of the Student Loan Fund of Lyndhurst High School, serves on the Board of Directors of the Lyndhurst Youth Center and a is a life member of the New Jersey PTA. In addition, he is a Past President of the Meadowlands Division of the American Heart Association and member of the South Bergen Branch of the American Cancer Society.
His many accomplishments include founding Lyndhurst’s Municipal Substance Abuse Committee, Free Food Farm, Crisis Intervention Committee, Beautification Program, Summer Concerts in the Park series, the State-recognized town wide recycling program and the Recreation Commission. He organized the construction of ball parks in the Meadowlands and the development of the first Township Handicapped Park & Playground. Commissioner Stellato also founded the Lyndhurst Nutrition Center at the Carucci Senior Apartments and co-founded the Lyndhurst Blood Bank.
Commissioner Stellato has successfully taken a single, small funeral home and turned it into a corporation consisting of several funeral homes, still family owned and operated, tending to every detail of importance to each and every family served.
Louis J. Stellato is married to Linda Stellato and has three grown children and six grandchildren.