Stuart T. "Stu" Brandow passed away on Saturday, April 5, 2025 at Brighton Gardens of Edison. He was 100 years old.

Born in Leeds, NY on May 27, 1924 to the late James and Agnes Brandow, he has resided in Woodbridge since 1956.

Mr. Brandow was employed with the Woodbridge Township Board of Education for many years prior to his retirement.

He belonged to the First Presbyterian Church of Woodbridge, Avenel Memorial Post 7164, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Avenel and Corporal Kevin J. Reinhard Detachment 189, Marine Corps League, Avenel.

Stu served in the U.S. Army from 1943-46, having been drafted into service on July 22, 1943. He entered basic training at Fort McClellan, Alabama, and became a student at Norwich University in the Army Specialized Training Program. Initially assigned to become a pilot bombardier, the need for reinforcements on the ground prompted his reassignment as a machine gunner with the 78th Infantry Division.

According to the www.normandytothebulge.be website, "It was Thanksgiving Day 1944 when Mr. Brandow crossed the English Channel to Le Havre, France, to take part in the European Theatre of Operations (ETO). Stu and his fellow members of the 310th Regiment moved into the combat area of Lammersdorf and took over a mile of the Siegfried Line during fierce fighting. His regiment gained control of the Bridge at Remagen and was in continuous combat for 128 days, crossing the Roer and Rhine rivers before beginning the occupation of Germany.

He received the Combat Infantryman Badge, Bronze Star Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with three campaign stars, Army of Occupation Medal, World War Two Victory Medal, a Presidential Unit Citation and two Certificates of Merit for combat in action."

Mr. Brandow was honorably discharged in 1946, having reached the rank of sergeant.

Stu was an honorary resident of Keyser, WV and as a veteran of the 78th "Lightning" Division — the same division to which Keyser High's Medal of Honor recipient Jonah Edward Kelley belonged — began attending the annual Kelley Award program along with his fellow veterans to honor their comrade in Keyser. He soon endeared himself not only to the three Kelley Award candidates and their families every year, but also to the Keyser High School faculty and staff, members of the J. Edward Kelley Society and the Keyser Moose Lodge, and to the community in general. According to John Haines Sr., in the time since he started traveling to Keyser for the awards program in 1980, Brandow had only missed three times — the year his wife passed away, and last year and this year, when his health was too fragile to permit the trip. Just how much a part of Keyser Brandow had become was especially evident during his last trip, in 2023, when the Keyser mayor and council presented him with a key to the city.

He participated in a few programs in which he was interviewed about his service — one was for the Library of Congress Veteran History program, and the video for that is available online at loc.org, and another was for the Rutgers University Oral History Archives. The transcript of that interview is available at oral history.rutgers.edu.

In addition to his parents, Mr. Brandow was predeceased by his wife, Elizabeth Vasil Brandow, in 2008; sisters, Agnes Tink, Rosemarie Hennessy and Lorraine O'Hara; and brother, Theodore Brandow, killed in action during the Korean War.

Surviving are his son and daughter in law, Roland and Diane Brandow, of Fords; daughter, Barbara Brandow, of Myrtle Beach, SC; grandsons, Dominick Brandow and Kevin Coughlin; his great grandchildren, Nathaniel and Emily; a brother Robert Brandow of Florida; and a Dear Friend Vito Demianiuk

Funeral will take place on Thursday, April 17, 2025 at 9:30 a.m. from Costello-Greiner Funeral Home, 44 Green Street, Woodbridge. Services will follow at 10:00 a.m. at the First Presbyterian Church of Woodbridge, 600 Rahway Avenue, Woodbridge. Interment will be in Clover Leaf Memorial Park, Woodbridge. Visitation for family and friends will be on Wednesday, April 16, 2025 from 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at the funeral home. American Legion Post 87, Woodbridge will be conducting services on Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m. at the funeral home.