Mentor to many

Teacher, coach, guidance counselor, Board of Education president and borough councilman. David Oliver filled many roles during a lengthy career serving the Middlesex community. It said thank you by honoring him with Pillar of Middlesex recognition on Tuesday evening, March 10.

Several dozen friends, colleagues and well-wishers filled nearly every seat in the municipal courtroom at the Ronald S. Dobies municipal building as Mayor Jack MIkolajczyk and the Borough Council recognized Oliver for his community service.

Oliver and his wife, Marion, moved from their longtime Middlesex home last year. “Our hearts and our minds still belong here in Middlesex,” he said.

Oliver was a fixture at Middlesex High School in the 1960s and early 1970s, coaching sports, teaching history and advising students on their college path. Later he made his way to elected office, serving on the council from 1996-2001 and two school board stints totaling two decades.

Comments by Oliver after receiving his award were a name-dropper’s delight for longtime Middlesex Borough residents. He recalled renowned MHS athletes from the past, such as Wayne Fredrickson and Mike Shern; others who had worked along side of him at MHS such as Pete Diskin and Joe Diegnan; and past school district colleagues, such as former Superintendent Linda Madison and board member Bill Coyle.

Former Borough Attorney Ed Johnson first approached Oliver about running for council in the 1990s, at the behest of then-Mayor Ron Dobies. But there was one snag. Dobies was seeking someone to run with him as a Democrat. Oliver was a registered Republican and broke that news to Johnson.

“Don’t worry about it,” Oliver recalled Johnson responding. “We can change that in a minute.”

His love for the gridiron drew him to MHS, Oliver acknowledged. “I came here to coach football – let’s be honest,” he said. The school’s pigskin program “wasn’t in great shape” at that point in the mid-1960s. But Oliver noted “we worked our tail off” and “a lot of great kids” combined to turn around the Blue Jays’ football fortunes. 

Oliver commended the civic spirit of those he’s worked with on various community programs through the years. 

“Middlesex is one of those places where people rally to the cause,” he said. “They volunteer to get things done, year after year after year, problem after problem after problem. And that’s a very special thing.”

Mikołajczyk noted that Oliver “was one of the first people I met” when the current mayor served two Board of Education terms alongside him roughly 20 years ago.

Former Councilman Matt Adams, who is currently a Democratic candidate for New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District seat, called Oliver “someone I truly admired” who “has been an amazing influence in my life.”

Adams remembered campaigning with Dobies and Oliver in the 1995. Adams and Oliver sought council seats. Dobies was running for mayoral re-election. 

“Which meant I was hanging on the coattails of two Middlesex Borough legends,” Adams said. “Dave and I went door-to-door. I had graduated high school fairly recently. I thought I knew a lot of people in Middlesex. I didn’t know anybody the way this guy knew people from Middlesex.”

Voters who answered their doors would tend to say, “Hi Dave,” Adams recalled, then look at him and ask, “You are..?”

They both got elected and served on the council together. “He was always well-prepared, always extremely logical,” Adams said of Oliver. “He was level-headed about every decision we had to make and I was lucky enough to learn from him.”

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