Thomas D. Monte, Jr., of Sea Girt, New Jersey and Islamorada, Florida, was born on November 13, 1944 in Jersey City, New Jersey to Dr. Thomas D. Monte, Sr. and Doris (de Rancy) Monte. He grew up in Montclair, New Jersey and graduated from Montclair High School in 1962. He attended Villanova University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1966, and remained a lifelong fan of the Wildcats, returning to campus often for basketball games.

Thomas later attended Seton Hall University School of Law, where he was a member of the Seton Hall Law Review. After obtaining his Juris Doctorate in 1972, Thomas began a long career as a trial attorney, and was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of New Jersey and the Supreme Court of New York. He first served as Law Secretary to the Honorable Lawrence A. Whipple, United States District Judge, and then spent five years as a Deputy Attorney General for the State of New Jersey. In 1978, he entered private practice, and represented community members and businesses of all sizes in civil litigation in state and federal courts throughout New Jersey and New York. With a number of partners, Thomas operated his own firm in Sea Girt for over 30 years. He was proud to have served as a member of the Judicial Selection Committee and Civil Practice Committee for the New Jersey State Bar Association, and also served as an arbitrator for the Monmouth County Superior Court. 

During his childhood, Thomas often visited Sea Girt, where his parents had a summer home. He met his wife Carolyn while lifeguarding at the Stockton Hotel, and never left her side for 58 years. Thomas moved his family to Sea Girt in 1974, and treasured the home he bought that sits on the former grounds of the grand entrance of the very same Stockton Hotel where his family first began. Thomas loved being a part of the Sea Girt community, serving on the Sea Girt Board of Education and the St. Mark’s Parish Council.

Thomas was an avid fisherman and boater, and always welcomed family and friends aboard the Lady Law for fishing and pleasure cruises. When the New Jersey waters became too frigid, he and his family spent winters in Islamorada, Florida, where the fish were still biting. He enjoyed many seafood dinners at restaurants throughout the Jersey Shore and the Florida Keys, very often proclaiming the food to be “outstanding!”

Thomas was predeceased by his parents, Dr. Thomas D. Monte, Sr. and Doris (de Rancy) Monte. He is survived by his loving wife, Carolyn (Piccoli) Monte of Sea Girt and Islamorada, and his children, Laurie and her husband Matt Guagenty of Manasquan, Michelle and her husband Steve Bird of Sea Girt, Thomas D. Monte III of Manasquan, and Carrie and her husband J.P. Fiteni of Mountainside. Thomas is also survived by his sister, Marie (Monte) Matri and her husband Hank, of Upper Saddle River and Sea Girt. He also leaves his beloved grandchildren, Tyler Matthew Guagenty, Gavin Thomas Guagenty, Chloe Ann Bird, Stephen Douglas Bird Jr., Isabella Marie Bird, Hunter Thomas Monte and Layla Kate Fiteni, and many nieces and nephews. As Thomas would always say, he will “see you tomorrow!”

Family and Friends are invited to attend a viewing on Wednesday August 24, 2022 from 4:00 to 8:00 pm at O’Brien Funeral Home, 2028 Highway 35, Wall, NJ 07719. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Thursday August 25, 2022 at 9:30 am at St. Mark’s Catholic Church, Sea Girt.  Family and friends are invited to meet directly at the Church on Thursday.  Burial will follow at St. Anne Cemetery, Wall. 

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Huntington's Disease Center at Pennsylvania Hospital, Checks made payable to Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, HD Clinic/in memory of Thomas Monte.  Mail to Penn Medicine Development, Attn: Lindsey Walker, 3535 Market Street, Suite 750, Philadelphia, PA 19104. Or you can donate directly online by CLICKING HERE. For donations to the Huntington's Disease Society of America please go to www.HDSA,org.