Jim O’Dowd, a former Bergen County Freeholder and Mayor of Bergenfield, died on Friday at age 90. He served four terms as Mayor and three as a Freeholder. He was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for the New Jersey State Assembly in 1971, losing narrowly to Byron Baer and Albert Burstein. He ran again in 1973, but in the Watergate-related Democratic landslide, O’Dowd lost by a wide margin.
Hugh Dalzell, the Hudson County Democratic Committee’s Man of the Year in 1995, died on Thursday at the age of 102. The Ireland-born Dalzell enjoyed working behind the scenes, managing numerous campaigns for Town Council in his hometown of Kearny. He had repeatedly turned down opportunities to run himself.
Dorothy Wilson, whose husband Robert served as mayor of Highland Park, died Wednesday. She was 89.