A peace vigil this Friday in this Atlantic County community will honor the memory of activist Larry Angel of Mullica Township, who died of a heart attack earlier this month.

Members of the Coalition for Peace and Justice and local area peace activists will gather at the intersection of Routes 9 (New Road) and 30 (White Horse Pike) in a small park across from the Burger King. The vigil will run from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

“Because there is no formal commemoration for Larry planned in the short run some CPJ members wanted to do something sooner. So, we’ll spend some time while vigiling and holding our signs and candles to talk about Larry and how he affected our lives,” said CPJ Chairman Norm Cohen.

The vigil, which has been held monthly throughout the Iraq War, was originally was scheduled for May 16 but was postponed due to inclement weather.

Cohen said Angel, who was a township gadfly regularly questioning municipal and school officials in Mullica on their actions, had been a member of the Coalition for Peace and Justice for about four years, Cohen said.

“Larry’s political and moral beliefs were very close to mine: he opposed the Iraq War, cared about peace and human justice and stridently defended the right for a citizen to speak truth to power. He may have annoyed some Mullica folks because he was so passionate about his beliefs, but I feel we need more people like Larry to get up and stand for what they believe him. Larry claimed to be a maverick, a loner, but I found working with him to be fun and educational. He was a very intelligent person who had thought thru his positions on issues. I’m going to miss him,” Cohen said.

Cohen also chasticized the actions of some Mullica officials who walked out while a tribute to Angel was made during the May 13 township committee meeting there. Anyone knowing which officials walked out of the committee meeting, please post in the comments.

“The Mullica folks should be ashamed of walking out on his tribute. Without people like Larry defending free speech and pushing the limits, this country would be even closer to a dictatorship than it is now,” Cohen said.

Individuals who walked out of the public meeting were: Democratic Mullica Mayor William Kennedy, Republican Committeewoman Kathy Chasey and several other audience members.