By BRIAN DONOHUE
Former Red Bank RiverCenter chairman Edmund “Ned” Gaunt has died, according to an obituary in the Duluth News Tribune in Minnesota. A memorial service was slated for Thursday afternoon at the Benedictine Living Community in Duluth, where he died on April 13. He was 85.
A 2016 Red Bank RiverCenter press release announcing his election to head the organization lists his long history of involvement in Red Bank. It reads:
“Gaunt has served on the RiverCenter board since 1993 and on its Executive Committee since 2000. In addition, he served on the RiverCenter Visual Improvement Committee for more than 20 years.
As a long-time resident of Red Bank and its surrounds, and an award-winning architect who has been active in the community, Gaunt has deep knowledge and experience with the evolution of Red Bank from the economic, social, and architectural perspectives.
“I have watched Red Bank continuously develop in a very positive way since I moved here in 1955,” Gaunt said. “The Red Bank area has so much to offer with its rivers, the ocean, proximity to NYC and, of course, an amazing business district, which has seen its greatest progress in the past 25 years due, in no small part, to RiverCenter. I’m looking forward to continued improvements and I am optimistic that they will occur.”
Today, he works at the Red Bank architectural firm Kaplan Gaunt DeSantis, where he has been a partner since 1971. Prior to that, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University, received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Stanford University after serving two years as an officer in the U.S. Navy, and was licensed to practice architecture in 1970.
While he has designed buildings throughout New Jersey and beyond, many examples of Gaunt’s work are in Red Bank including new office buildings on Broad Street and Maple Avenue, the Red Bank Senior Center, Monmouth Day Care Center and Lunch Break, as well as many alterations and additions to offices, restaurants, and retail spaces in town including The Dublin House, Antoinette Boulangerie and Riverview Medical Center.
Most recently, approval has been granted for St. Crispin’s House, a center to aid immigrant populations in Red Bank owned and operated by St. Anthony’s Church.
Gaunt is a past president of the New Jersey Society of Architects and the Jersey Shore Chapter of Architects and remains active in these organizations.
He has also served as president of the Monmouth Ocean Development Council, chairman of the Red Bank Branch Management Committee of the Community YMCA and as inaugural Co-Chairman of the Red Bank Martin Luther King, Jr. Observance Committee.
Gaunt resides in Red Bank with his wife, Laraine, and their 12-year-old chocolate lab, Sadie. He has two children and five grandchildren.
redbankgreen editor Brian Donohue may be reached via email at [email protected] or by calling or texting 848-331-8331 or yelling his name loudly as he walks by. Do you value the news coverage provided by redbankgreen? Please become a financial supporter if you haven’t already. Click here to set your own level of monthly or annual contribution.
