Cranbury Obituary: Melvin Richard Lehr, 75

Melvin Richard Lehr, 75, of Cranbury passed away Saturday, June 8, 2013 at the University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro. Born in Amherst, New York, he lived in Cleveland, Ohio, Trenton, New Jersey and Plainsboro, New Jersey before moving to Cranbury in 2004.

He is survived by his wife, Kathleen Bilbao Lehr of Cranbury; his daughter, Deborah Lehr Trivedi and son-in-law, Dhrupad Trivedi of Pleasanton, California; two grandchildren, Nishaad and Aria Trivedi also of Pleasanton, California; one sister, Carolyn Lehr of Athens, Georgia.

He enjoyed a 45 year career as a transportation engineer and planner. After obtaining his Bachelors and Masters Degrees from Case Institute of Technology, he became the chief traffic engineer for the city of Cleveland. He then was a principle in the firm of Dalton, Dalton and Little, an architecture and engineering firm.

When he moved to New Jersey, he served as the NJ Department of Transportation Director of Research and Planning and later as Assistant Commissioner of NJDOT. He then started his own transportation engineering and planning firm, Lehr and Associates, which he owned and managed for many years. In preparation for his retirement, he sold his firm to Frederick R. Harris, Inc. (now AECOM), where he served as vice president until his retirement in 1999.

For over 20 years he was on the Board of Directors of PlanSmart New Jersey, a non-profit organization which supports sound land use planning. In his retirement, he served on several boards including the Board of Trustees of the Homeowners Association for Four Seasons at Historic Cranbury, the Cranbury Zoning Board of Adjustment, Cranbury Housing Associates, Keeping Pace and the Cranbury Public Library Foundation. Mel was an avid reader and enjoyed traveling in retirement, as well as spending time with family and friends.

Calling hours will be held Tuesday, June 11, 2013 from 4 pm to 8 pm at the Barlow & Zimmer Funeral Home, 202 Stockton Street, Hightstown, NJ 08520. Funeral services will be held at the funeral home on Wednesday at 10 am. Burial will follow at Holy Trinity Cemetery, Hopelawn, NJ. Memorial contributions may be made to the Princeton HealthCare System Foundation, 3626 US Route One, Princeton, NJ 08540, or to the Cranbury Public Library Foundation, 23 North Main Street, Cranbury, NJ 08512.