Prep Talk

Carmine Catalana, Prep Friend and Benefactor, Passes Away

Posted December 11th, 2011

St. Augustine Preparatory School benefactor, Carmine C. Catalana III, passed away shortly after midnight on Thursday, December 8, 2011, at the age of 81.

Mr. Catalana was the chairman of the Board of Cumberland Dairy.  He was the 1989 recipient of the Prep’s Gregor Mendel Award, and in 2008 he was inducted into the St. Augustine Prep Hall of Fame.  He was a tireless supporter of the St. Augustine Prep basketball team, and was a fixture on the “Wall” in Spina Gym.  He was a major benefactor of the Prep crew team, and the erg room in the Forum is named in his honor.  Mr. Catalana was also a generous benefactor of the Augustinian Order.

Mr. Catalana is survived by his wife of more than 50 years, Theresa; their five children and thirteen grandchildren.  His sons, Carmine IV (’76), Frank (’78), Michael (’81), and David (’82), and his grandsons, Nick Catalana (’07) and Ryan Iaconelli (’10), are all graduates of the Prep.  Grandsons Garrett Catalana (’13) and Andrew Catalana (’14) are current students at St. Augustine.  Son David is also an assistant basketball coach for the Hermits, and son-in-law Tony Iaconelli, the husband of daughter Maria, is a teacher and the Athletic Director at the Prep.

Memorial Contribution can be made in Mr. Catalana’s name to any of the following: Ronald McDonald House of Southern New Jersey; St Augustine Prep; Our Lady of Mercy Academy; Sacred Heart High School; and Immaculate Conception Church, Bridgeton.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend the funeral, which will originate at the Freitag Funeral Home, 137 W. Commerce St., Bridgeton, on Tuesday morning, December 13, at 10 o’clock and will be followed by an 11 o’clock funeral liturgy at The Parish of the Holy Cross/Church of the Immaculate Conception, 312 N. Pearl St., Bridgeton. The burial will follow at Holy Cross Cemetery at Laurel Lawn in Upper Deerfield Township. Friends will be received at the funeral home Monday afternoon and evening from 5 until 9 and also Tuesday morning from 8:30 until 10.