Accident takes chief's life

Hamburg-An automobile accident took the life of former borough police chief and councilman Edward Paulison last Thursday morning on Route 206 after the former lawman's car, a 1996 Chevrolet Cavalier, crossed a double yellow line and collided with a truck driven by a Boonton man. "I sat with Ed for six years on the council," said Hamburg Mayor Paul Marino. "He wasn't afraid to speak his mind. He was an up-front guy, a good guy to work with. He helped Hamburg get back on track. "He knew what he wanted to accomplish, and he loved the town of Hamburg. According to Capt. Al Della Fave of the New Jersey State Police in Trenton, Paulison had been traveling northward along Route 206 "when, for some unknown reason," he entered the southbound lane and struck a 1982 Autocar truck that was owned by M&H Services of Ironia and driven by Larry Pearce, a 54-year-old Boonton resident. Pearce was not injured, but the collision caused the truck's fuel tank to rupture, thus releasing about 60 gallons of fuel onto the road. Paulison was transported to Newton Memorial Hospital by the Blue Ridge First Aid Squad, and was pronoun dead at 10:25 a.m., Della Fave said. Results as to his state of health at the time of the crash are pending from a toxicology report, since some have speculated that Paulison may have suffered a heart attack Sheriff's officers from the Sussex County Hazardous Waste Team cleaned up the fuel spill, assisted by units from both the Branchville and Frankford Fire Departments, Della Fave added. "I did know Mr. Paulison as a police chief, and I thought he was a good councilman," said Joe Marano, who has sat on the Hamburg Borough Council for nine years, at least half of them during the time Paulison was also in office. "I never saw a man so concerned with other people's individual problems. "He's the only councilman I know, who when somebody had a problem, he would say, ‘I'll take care of it,' and he did," Marano added. "He was a good man and I'm sorry for his passing." Added Mayor Marino: "He was a friend. I'm going to miss him.