This is one funeral where blue is more appropriate than black.
When Greater Morristown says goodbye on Monday to Marty Epstein, the founder of Marty’s Reliable Cycle who vowed to “save the world with bicycles,” mourners are encouraged to wear their blue Team Marty jerseys–and to bring their bicycles.
Marty, founder of the annual Garden State Fondo biking event in Morristown, died Thursday after a five-year-battle with metastatic prostate cancer. He was 69.
After the 10 am service at Temple B’Nai Or in Morristown, cyclists are invited to join a procession to Marty’s final resting place, Beth Israel Cemetery in Cedar Knolls, “for one last ride in honor of someone who devoted his life to cycling and cycling culture,” his family said over the weekend. Helmets are strongly recommended.
The May 6, 2019, service is at 60 Overlook Road in Morristown, near the Thomas Jefferson School. Bicycling attire is acceptable inside the temple.
Morristown police advise there will be a “rolling traffic closure” as the bike procession travels from the temple onto James, South, Elm and Morris streets to the cemetery on Ridgedale Avenue, between 11 am and 1 pm. The procession then will return to town hall at 200 South St., police said.
Those who cannot attend may watch a live stream of the service.
Marty’s stores in Morristown, Randolph and Hackettstown will be closed Monday.
In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations in honor of Marty be made to Cycle for Survival.
The Epstein family will sit Shiva on Monday through Wednesday, from 5-8 p.m., at 10 Benjamin Road in Chester.
Funeral arrangements are by the Doyle Funeral Home, 973-539-0632.
