As this Independence Day is also my 63rd birthday, and would have been the 95th birthday of my dear father, William Joseph Eagan lll, my thoughts and my mind drift daily, reminiscing of the beginnings of my time when my dad introduced me and my family to living in Northfield, and to more than 55 years of my life experiences and memories.
My hometown journey began on May 7, 1967, when my father, mother and I started our exciting family adventure by moving “off shore” from Margate to “the mainland” into our beautiful new home located on Henry Drive in the Birch Grove Park section of Northfield.
Our actual off-shore, house-hunting journey began when my grandparents lived in Linwood from 1954 to 1966. My father served in the United States Air Force overseas in the Korean War and also on Okinawa, Enewetak, Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands as part of the H-bomb testing program, returning from his service to his parents’ new Linwood home.
Upon his return, my dad secured a position at the then Naval Air Station working for Lockheed as an aircraft maintenance technician.
When in 1958 it became NAFEC, my father was part of the original National Aviation Facilities Experimental Testing Center team as a federal government aircraft technician working in research, development and implementing experimental modifications for the Department of Transportation and Defense.
My dad wanted to plant roots for our family (himself, my mother Grace, and I), and to be closer and more conveniently located to his work. These roots run deep.
In the 1960s there was a new construction building boom of sorts, and during that time various area local builders were offering new construction homes to veterans and local working families.
Prior to and during the 1960s, most of the areas surrounding Birch Grove Park were woods and trees, horseback riding trails, vast farmland filled with nature, and spaces for adventures and quiet enjoyment. When I look back upon my childhood, growing up in Northfield, to me it was, and still is, a magical place. “The great American hometown,” my hometown, like our own real-life Mayberry.
You feel it as you drive, walk, jog, or take a bike ride through Northfield, whether on the beautiful strolling/bike path, which was originally a railroad for transporting lumber back in the old days, or along trails meandering into Birch Grove Park. The 271-acre site was, back in the 1800s through the mid 1940s, a lumberyard, and then a brick manufacturing company, until Northfield obtained it and made it into a park in the early 1950s.
Many enjoyable activities include fishing, barbecuing, picnicking or bringing the entire family to enjoy an evening of concerts at the gazebo, or gathering together to cheer on our youth playing soccer, baseball, softball and football games on the Northfield Cardinal Team fields. These activities are still actively being enjoyed by families today.
I have memories with family, neighbors and friends attending schools, church, making lifelong relationships and friendships lasting through four generations throughout Northfield, especially at Birch Grove Park – Girl Scouting, Arbor Day tree plantings, garden clubs, the Northfield library, the historical society and museum, our grand celebration of our nation’s bi-centennial celebration 1776-1976 with the dedication of the time capsule.
Northfield is a patriotic community where we honor all of our hometown heroes and veterans at our Veterans Park.
Most memorable are our own hometown Fourth of July parade and Memorial and Veterans Day celebrations to honor and remember the service of all those past, present and future who have lived, served and contributed to the betterment of family life for today, and for generations to come.
On this July 4, 2025, the 249th birthday of America, I thank my father for choosing to make Northfield our family home. My dad, now in Heaven, William Joseph Eagan lll, would have celebrated his 95th birthday. He died Dec. 17, 2006 at the age of 76. As I celebrate my own 63rd birthday, I am grateful that I was my fathers’ 32nd birthday present.
On that day, the day that I was born, my dad was joyfully celebrating, carrying his “Wee Willy” ice-cream box on his back, happily selling “Fudgy Wudgy” and “Firecracker Red, White and Blue” ice-cream pops on the Atlantic City Beach as an ice-cream vendor veteran, and giving out cigars to his lifelong friends on the beach whom he loved and enjoyed for so many years.
I am so grateful that we shared and celebrated every Fourth of July birthday together for 44 years; many years of festive fireworks, parades and barbecues and most of all, love.
I treasure all of my hometown memories, and the house, home, neighborhood and community that made me. I love Northfield, the City of Atlantic City, the place of my birth, Atlantic County and this Shore Local area where I live, work, and continue to give back and to serve daily.
God bless America and the great American hometown; our own “Mayberry” Northfield New Jersey USA
Make sure to get out and share and celebrate this Fourth of July weekend and each and every day with those that you love and care about. Love one another everyone. Treasure each moment of every day together making lasting Shore Local memories.
With hugs love and warm regards,
For More Real Estate Questions, Information and Advice Contact Elisa Jo Eagan “The Real Estate Godmother” (609)703-0432 and Remember…”There’s No Place Like Owning Your Own Home!”
