Obituary of Alfred Sauer

Alfred C. Sauer, 88, passed away on July 22, 2014. He was born in West New York, NJ and moved to Howell in the early 1940's. He served in WWll in the 52nd Armored Infantry, 9th Armored Division and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Alfred was awarded the Combat Infantry Badge Presidential Citation with three battle stars. Later he became clerk for the battalion. He worked as a blacksmith for Camp Evans, Wall NJ, until his retirement, then later operated a tree nursery on his farm where he spent the rest of his life. Al was an avid wildlife conservationist, hunter and fisherman. He worked tirelessly as a volunteer for the Township of Howell for almost fifty years. He was the first recipient of the yearly Ann G. Ritchey Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Environment in Howell for his efforts as the Township's representative during the almost daily hearings on the permanent closure of the Waste Management, Inc. Landfill. Alfred was instrumental in keeping Howell's voice in the negotiations. Among his many contributions to the Township of Howell were helping create the Howell Environmental Commission in the early 1970's, on which he remained a member for nearly two decades and, in 1999, the Lake Restoration & Wildlife Management Committee, on which he served until his death. He was instrumental in creating Echo Lake Park and its pavilion, the Archery Range and was one of the proponents of establishing and later expanding the 900 acre tract known as Bear Swamp Natural Area as well as the 240 acre tract recently named Big Woods Natural Area. Al was author of innumerable informative research papers relating to rare and endangered species, wildlife andvegetation in Howell. He worked on the development of Howell's first Natural Resource Inventory published in 1972 and on the NRI for Bear Swamp Natural Area adopted in 2011.He was part of the Land Use Task Force on Recommendations for Recreational Use of the Manasquan River Reservoir and fought hard to insure the public would have access for suitable recreational uses. Several years ago, after naming all the streams in Howell, Alfred created the Howell Streams Naming Map. The names have since been approved and adopted by the Federal Government, allowing them to be transferred to the US Geological Quad Maps and FEMA Maps. In his spare time, Al was a self taught sculptor and artist. He was predeceased by his parents, Charles & Ellen (Coulson) Sauer, and loving wife, Betty. Alfred is survived by two daughters, four grandchildren, three great grandchildren and his loyal caregiver, Vern. Al served his Country and his Township well. He will be sorely missed by all. A visitation will be held at the Clayton & McGirr Funeral Home, 100 Elton-Adelphia Road (Route 524), Freehold Township on Sunday, July 27, 2014 from 2:00 to 4:30 PM with his friends offering a eulogy at 4:30 PM. Friends may gather at the funeral home Monday, July 28, 2014 at 11:45 AM for the procession to Brigadier General William C. Doyle NJ Veterans Cemetery, Arneytown for his 1:00 PM interment. For information, directions or condolence messages to the family, visit www.claytonfuneralhome.com.