{"id":7747,"date":"2016-03-01T00:45:34","date_gmt":"2016-03-01T05:45:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shorebeat.com\/brick\/?p=7747"},"modified":"2016-03-01T00:45:34","modified_gmt":"2016-03-01T05:45:34","slug":"now-retired-brick-resident-made-his-mark-on-the-federal-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/2016\/03\/now-retired-brick-resident-made-his-mark-on-the-federal-government\/","title":{"rendered":"Now Retired, Brick Resident Made His Mark on the Federal Government"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Frank<\/a>

Frank LaMura (Photo: Ed Loomis, Army Corps of Engineers)<\/p><\/div>\n

By\u00a0Lou Fioto<\/strong><\/p>\n

For more than 40 years, Brick resident Frank LaMura served the people of the United States through various jobs he held with the federal government. He enjoyed every minute of it, and feels he did his part to make the world a better place.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like to think my career meant something,\u201d LaMura, 65, says. \u201cEspecially my 30+ years with the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The organization works hard to protect lives, property and the environment, and to help our nation grow and prosper. I take pride in being part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

LaMura, who moved to New Jersey in 1991, started his government career with the Administrative Office of the United States Courts at Foley Square in Manhattan in 1973. First he was a jury clerk, qualifying people for jury duty, then was promoted to a docket clerk where he handled the admission of attorneys to the Federal bar and prepared calendars for judges.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking in the legal system was gratifying,\u201d he says. \u201cMaking sure that good people serve on a jury is important. I feel I did my part to help ensure that justice was always served.\u201d<\/p>\n

He worked there until 1977, then joined the General Services Administration where he helped dispose of real property for federal and state agencies. His efforts helped to streamline the governmental process, saving taxpayer dollars.<\/p>\n

The Brooklyn native, who has a B.A. degree in modern languages from Brooklyn College, joined the North Atlantic Division of the Army Corps in 1982, where he spent the remainder of his career until retiring in January. The Corps plans, designs and constructs projects to support the military, protect America\u2019s water resources, mitigate risk from disasters, and restore and enhance the environment. The North Atlantic division is the Corps\u2019 headquarters for the northeastern United States, Europe, and Africa, with offices in Concord, Mass., New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Norfolk and Wiesbaden, Germany.<\/p>\n

At the Army Corps, located in downtown New York City when he joined it, LaMura held various positions including Safety Technician and Management and Program Analyst. As a safety technician, he compiled and helped review and analyze quarterly accident statistics throughout the division.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked with the staff to identify and correct problem areas and ensure good safety for both our employees and people visiting our projects,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s nice to know that you are doing something beneficial for both your coworkers and the general public.\u201d<\/p>\n

LaMura\u2019s office moved to Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn in 1998.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a big change, I was not too happy about it since it was shortly after my mother passed away and I felt I had to suddenly adjust to too many changes in my life. I was also used to commuting by bus and was not too fond about driving to work,\u201d he says. \u201cPlus, in Manhattan, everything in the world was no more than a five-minute walk from the office. Shopping, dining, banking, historical landmarks, you name it. The World Trade Center was literally right across the street. And public transportation was an efficient way to get to work. That wasn\u2019t the case in Brooklyn, and it took some getting used to. Of course, we were all thankful that we had moved when we did after what happened on 9\/11.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a Management and Program Analyst, LaMura managed the payroll program for the office and advised district offices on proper procedures, among other duties. He received exceptional performance awards every year during his 34 years with the Corps, and received the Commander\u2019s Award for Civilian Service when he retired.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I did a good job during my 40-plus years with the federal government,\u201d he says. \u201cI feel I made good contributions and I\u2019m satisfied.\u201d<\/p>\n

LaMura lives in Greenbriar and enjoys life with his friends and neighbors.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took a little getting used to at first, since life here is significantly different from living in Brooklyn,\u201d he says, \u201cbut I\u2019ve adjusted nicely and am totally New Jersey now. It\u2019s cleaner, healthier and safer.\u201d<\/p>\n

He is active in line dancing and enjoys dining out with friends and travelling. He\u2019s been to Italy several times, and plans to go to Atlantic City more often. He will also join some clubs, become more active in his church and take day trips in the immediate future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also plan to visit my family in Florida more often,\u201d he adds. \u201cOne thing I know I will not<\/em>\u00a0be doing is getting up at 3:45 a.m. to start getting ready for work. And I won\u2019t miss slipping and sliding to work on icy roads in the winter, the numerous traffic delays and accidents and the long commute.\u201d<\/p>\n

Enjoy your golden years, Mr. LaMura, and thanks for a job well done!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s Note:<\/strong> The author, Lou Fioto, who lives in Middletown, is a public affairs specialist for the Army Corps of Engineers and a freelance writer whose work has appeared in The Asbury Park Press, The Staten Island Advance, The Sporting News, Writers Digest, and other publications.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brick resident Frank LaMura served in numerous federal agencies, including decades with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":201,"featured_media":7748,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[24,1968,1969,1970],"class_list":["post-7747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-in-brick","tag-brick-nj-news","tag-frank-lamura","tag-greenbriar","tag-u-s-army-corps-of-engineers"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/lamura_retirement.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgt2Ft-20X","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/201"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7747\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}