Stuart Koenig of Cedar Grove

Story updated Wednesday, Sept. 19, at 1:13 p.m.

Longtime Caldwell Municipal Attorney and a statewide authority in land use matters Stuart R. Koenig died suddently on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2012. He was 65.

Koenig died suddenly while playing tennis, a sport that he loved, at the Bradford Bath and Tennis Club in Cedar Grove.

Koenig was a partner in the law firm of Stickel, Koenig & Sullivan in Cedar Grove, where he lived.

He served as the attorney and special counsel for more than 40 municipalities—including Caldwell, Cedar Grove, Saddle River and Boonton—according to his profile on the New Jersey Institute of Local Government Attorney’s (NJILGA) website.

Koenig served the borough of Caldwell under many mayors, through the 1990s and 2000s, including Paul Jemas, Irene Gibbons and Susan Gartland, retiring at the end of 2009.

“I will surely miss Stuart Koenig, our longtime borough attorney," Gartland said at the time of his retirement. "His knowledge of municipal law was astounding and his clear thinking was always profound. Many mayors of different parties have depended upon his sage guidance and advice”

According to the NJILGA biography, Koenig served as Senior Assistant Counsel to the New Jersey League of Municipalities, and as General Counsel to the New Jersey Planning Officials. He also served since 1995 as Chairman of the League’s Legislative Committee on Land Use, Environment and Community Development, and since 1979 had been a member of the Municipal Land Use Law Drafting Committee, serving as Chairman of that Committee since 1999. 

Koenig earned both a bachelor’s degree (1969) and law degree (1972) from Rutgers University. 

Koenig lectured and wrote on land use and municipal law issues. He is the author of Cox & Koenig, New Jersey Zoning and Land Use Administration, published by Gann Law Books.

Along with tennis, Koenig also loved music, dancing, striper fishing and Rutgers football.

Koenig is survived by his wife of 37 years, Patti Fitzpatrick Koenig, whom he met when she was in middle school and he was a sophomore at Memorial High School (Cedar Grove).

He is also survived by children, Kathryn Elizabeth Koenig and her husband Dr. Douglas Dirschl, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, as well as his son, Kevin Stuart Koenig and his fiancé Lindsay Reddington, of Hoboken, NJ. He is also survived by both of his parents, Robert and Elizabeth Koenig of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, a brother, Kenneth Koenig, also of Ponte Vedra Beach, and a sister, Susan Koenig Brown of Middletown, NJ. He was pre-deceased by his younger brother Robert.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Sept. 22, at noon, at Rutgers University Kirkpatrick Chapel, 81 Somerset St., in New Brunswick.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made to either The Raptor Trust or the Cedar Grove Ambulance and Rescue Squad.

Arrangements are under the direction of Shook’s Cedar Grove Funeral Home in Cedar Grove. Memories and condolences can be shared at www.shookscedargrove.com.