Louis Danford “Pete” Conner Jr., age 98, of Eatontown, NJ, and lately of Bloomingdale, NJ, passed away peacefully at The Health Care Center of Bloomingdale on September 28, 2025.

He was born in Warren, Ohio, to Louis Danford Conner Sr. and May Brangham on March 20, 1927. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in engineering. Pete loved a challenge, enjoying the telemetry, avionics, hardware and software projects he worked on at ITT, Perkin-Elmer, Systems Technology, Telos Corporation and Radiation, Inc.

He’s remembered as a devoted grandfather and uncle, one who made it a priority to visit regularly, attend school plays, dance recitals, graduations, parties and sporting events, even when that involved traveling some distance. His now-legendary Christmas gifts to his grandkids were often elaborate pranks, like finding money hidden in a framed picture of him or in a box filled with only packing up material. Regardless of what he was asked to read, each book began the same way, “The sun did not shine, it was too wet to play, so we sat in the house all that cold, cold wet day.”

Pete was an avid runner, competing in many races at the Jersey Shore when his family lived in Long Branch, NJ. A published writer, he co-authored the humorous novel, “Another Vanishing Act.” He’s widely remembered for his quirky sense of humor and practical jokes. Pete volunteered at LADACIN Network, Ocean Township, NJ, a nonprofit agency helping children with cerebral palsy and other development disabilities

He is survived by his daughters, Maria Russo of Bloomingdale, NJ; Kimberly Flanagan of Freehold, NJ; Erika Pruitt of Mt. Laurel, NJ; his son Louis Danford Conner III, of West Long Branch, NJ; by beloved grandchildren, Peter Russo, Amy Flanagan, Lauren Flanagan, Hunter Pruitt, Taylor Pruitt, Olivia Conner, and Julian White; by nieces and nephews in Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and California and by sister-in-law Glenn Conner of Visalia, California. He is preceded in death by his parents, brother Bill, and sister Jody Waldrep, his wife, Rosemary Maxwell Conner, and his granddaughter Kara Flanagan.  

His family is honoring Pete’s request for no funeral services. Posten-McGinley Funeral Home, Atlantic Highlands, NJ, is in charge of cremation. 

You can make a memorial donation at ladacin.org by choosing “I want my donation to be dedicated” and then entering “to the memory of Mr. Lou.”