The South Orange Village Council and Mayor Sheena Collum, overcome with grief, on Monday night paid tribute to South Orange Director of Public Works Joseph Foligno, who died overnight Monday. He was 40.
The Village learned of his passing on Monday, and it “is still very raw,” Collum said, through tears, before leading those in attendance at the Village Council meeting in a moment of silence for Foligno.
“Joe brought such joy to this community. He showed up with a positive attitude every single day,” Collum said, adding that he loved working with children, environmentalists and residents.
“…If you had the complete fortune of meeting him, you’d fall in love with him right away. He put everybody else first. When things weren’t his job, he made them his job. He was quick to respond to residents, no matter what issue that they had, if he had a way to fix it, he would absolutely fix it.”
Foligno, who was raised in South Orange, rose through the ranks of the Public Works Department, where he’d worked since 2012, after starting as a seasonal employee in 2010, according to a post by South Orange Downtown. He was appointed Acting Public Works Director in 2021, and Collum said it would have been a lifelong role for him.
Public Works Director Joseph “Joe” Foligno (photo from South Orange Downtown website)
Village Council members and staff also expressed their grief, with Village Administrator Julie Doran saying the Village staff is devastated by the news.
“We loved Joe, truly…he wasn’t just a colleague, he was family,” Doran said. “You could count on Joe for literally anything, but mostly to make you laugh, to say ‘yes,’ to get the job done. He was always ‘on it.’…I never met anyone with as much pride in his work as Joe.”
Council Member Bill Haskins, who worked with Foligno through both the Public Works and Utilities Committee and the Environmental Commission said Foligno “leaves a legacy, even in his short time.”
“He made so many good changes and had such a good spirit for the folks he worked with. And that will stay with us. He will continue to be an inspiration for the way we want to take care of our town and care for each other.”
Council Member Jen Greenberg said “we will carry the impact that he had into our community and pass it forward.”
Council members Steve Schnall and Olivia Lewis-Chang noted that when a person dies young it is out of the natural order and will take awhile to process, but that Foligno will have a lasting impact on the Village.
“He was the personification of a can-do human being,” Schnall said.
“He was such a good egg,” Lewis-Chang said.
Council Member Bobby Brown said Foligno represents “all that is good with small town America and people who take on roles that serve the community.”
“So, Joe, you’ll be missed,” he said. “And to his family, there are no words, but we’ll try to do what we can to play a role in helping you as you grieve.”
The Council also observed a moment of silence for Daryl Levy, a 67-year-old JESPY client who died November 5, 2025, from injuries he sustained a little over a year ago when he was struck by a car as he crossed South Orange Avenue. JESPY clients and administrators were at the Village Council meeting to discuss pedestrian safety but in light of the news of Foligno’s death, agreed to put off the discussion until a Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Commission meeting in January.
The South Orange Village Council paid tribute to Public Works Director Joseph Foligno and observed a moment of silence in his honor. They also observed a moment of silence for Daryl Levy, a JESPY client who died in November, a year after being struck by a car in a crosswalk.
