John Martancik

Owner of The Cooking Company

John Edward Martancik, Jr., 62, of Boonton, NJ, long-time resident of Montclair and Verona, passed away on Sunday, February 13. Visitation will be held on Thursday, February 17, 2011, from 3:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Hugh. M. Moriarty Funeral Home, 76 Park Street, Montclair. A brief ceremony will follow on Friday, Feb. 18 at 11:00 a.m. at Rosedale Cemetery Chapel, 408 Orange Road, Montclair. John was born on April 6, 1948 in Morristown, and grew up in Boonton. He received his B.A. in Political Science from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. , and a Masters in Public Administration from Rutgers University. A self-taught gourmet chef, he cooked and managed for the Garden Restaurant, Philadelphia, as well as Renee's Place Bavardage and Evergreen Restaurant in Upper Montclair. He founded The Cooking Company, a catering business, in 1984. From Jackie Onassis to Lech Walesa and Yogi Berra, his cooking was enthusiastically devoured. John's family and many friends remember him as a special man who touched the lives of those around him. He was passionate about good food, travel, and his family. He was a master photographer, and a gardener with a landscape design certificate from The New York Botanical Garden. He is lovingly survived by his wife of 30 years, Carol Grabowski Martancik; his mother Janet Martancik of Baltimore, MD; his brother William Martancik of Minnetonka, MN; his sister Claudia Martancik of Baltimore, MD. He was predeceased by his father, John Edward Martancik. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to PAWS, P.O. Box 149, Montclair, NJ 07042, or to the American Heart Association via http://honor.americanheart.org/goto/GordonAndMichael.