Longtime Hudson County, Democratic Congressman Frank J. Guarini, Jr. has passed away at the age of 101. A native of Jersey City, Guarini served seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was a former President and Chairman of the National Italian American Foundation, where he spent several decades advancing Italian culture throughout America.
A decorated veteran of World War ll, Guarini attended the June 6th ribbon cutting ceremony for the Honorable Frank J. Guarini Justice Complex in Jersey City, the county facility named in his honor. The new complex, which is located at 2 Central Avenue, was constructed on land Guarini donated. It is the same site where his law firm started nearly 70 years ago.
Guarini was the oldest, former Congressman in the United States prior to his passing. He served from 1979 until 1993. He was a member of the New Jersey Senate from 1966 until 1972. He ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate in 1970. No former Congressman from the Garden State has ever lived until the age of 101.
Guarini was a graduate of Dartmouth. During his second term in the U.S. House of Representatives, Guarini was the driving force behind the construction of the football stadium in the Meadowlands, which led to the relocation of the New York Giants, and ultimately the New York Jets, to New Jersey.
He unsuccessfully attempted to get a baseball stadium built in the Meadowlands which he hoped would attract the San Francisco Giants back from California to the New York Metropolitan area. The New York Giants left the Polo Grounds for San Francisco following the 1957 baseball season.
Guarini sponsored legislation to change the legal voting age in New Jersey from 21 to 18.