Louis F. Costanza

Louis F. Costanza Life story 

Louis Francis Costanza, of North Brunswick, passed away on Tuesday, November 14, 2023 at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.  He was 86.  Born in Elizabeth on April 16, 1937, he moved to North Brunswick in 1973.

Lou attended Elizabeth public schools and graduated Jefferson High School in 1955. While at Jefferson, he served as Editor-in-Chief of the school newspaper for two full years. After that, he attended Cornell University on a full scholarship from the Teagle Foundation and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1959. While at Cornell, he served on the campus radio station WVBR as an announcer and co-host of the popular weekly campus satire program, "Collaborata." Also at Cornell, he was a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity, where he served as President for one term. 

After graduation from Cornell, he served with the National Guard, which included 6 months in the Regular Army and a commitment of 5 1/2 years with the New Jersey National Guard. 

In 1968, he attended the Democratic National Convention, serving as Press Secretary to those New Jersey delegates pledged to Presidential candidate, Eugene McCarthy. He produced a newsletter for the New Jersey delegation published all 4 days of the convention. Later that year, he served as an aide to the Hubert Humphrey campaign and later served on the NDC (New Democratic Coalition), a policy making group. 

His professional career spanned over 59 years, mostly in the advertising agency business. He began his career at Keyes, Martin and Company of Springfield New Jersey, where he rose to the office of Vice President. In 1969, he left the agency and joined K. Hovnanian Companies as their sales and marketing director. After 1 1/2 years, he left Hovnanian to form a market research firm, Marketec, which he operated successfully for several years. In 1977, he founded Louis Costanza & Associates, an advertising agency that specialized in Real Estate. The company operated for more than 44 years, and clients included numerous leading New Jersey homebuilders, as well as several in Pennsylvania's Pocono region. He and his company received numerous awards for its work. 

Mr. Costanza served in several honorary positions, including several years as a member of the board of directors of the Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce. 

Mr. Costanza is survived by his wife of 53 years, Marion, 3 children – Melissa (Nick), Steven (Kelly) and Jennifer - and 6 grandchildren - - Sara, Ryan, Nate, Eliza, Kate and Max. He is pre-deceased by his parents Frank and Nancy and his brother, Frank. 

Aside from his professional career, Costanza traveled widely and enjoyed lively discussions of politics, history and the theater with his many friends and associates. However, nothing meant more to him than spending time with his children and grandchildren, both in New Jersey and California. 

A Memorial Gathering for friends and family will be held on Saturday, November 18^th, from 1:00 – 3:00 pm, with a Memorial Service at 3:00 pm at The Crabiel Home for Funerals, 170 N Main St.-at Riva Avenue, Milltown, NJ 08850.  In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Lou’s name to either St. Jude's Childrens Research Hospital, www.stjude.org or the Democratic National Committee, 430 South Capitol Street Southeast, Washington DC 20003.  You may sign the online condolence “guestbook” at www.crabiel.com

The family will also be receiving friends and relatives on Sunday, November 19^th from 1:00 – 4:00 pm at Marion’s home.