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Flags in New Jersey are flying at half-staff Friday to honor former state Assembly speaker Chuck Hardwick, who died earlier this month.
Gov. Phil Murphy signed an executive order Wednesday directing state departments, agencies and offices lower the flag Friday as friends and family attend funeral services in Union County. Hardwick, 83, died on Feb. 19, a year after being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, according to his obituary posted in the Palm Beach Post.
Hardwick was first elected to the New Jersey State Assembly in 1977, representing the 20th District. In 1985, he became the first Republican speaker for the assembly in over a decade. He served in the role for five years, during which he took a run at the Republican nomination for governor in 1989, his obituary states.
Murphy, in the proclamation, touted Hardwick’s “remarkable” 14-year tenure in the Assembly, where he worked to reduce subpar county jail conditions; fought to establish fairer tax policies; and created programs to help those with gambling addictions.
Hardwick, who had a successful 40-year career as a top executive at Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, retired to Florida with his wife, Sheilagh Mylott. He also has three children.
In America, flags flown on land are not from masts, but from staffs. Half-staff refers to a flag that is raised halfway, between the bottom and top of a flagpole.
On ships and naval stations ashore, flags are flown from masts.
Lori Comstock is a New Jersey-based journalist with the Mid-Atlantic Connect Team.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ flags half staff; here’s why flags are lowered today
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