Over 40 Years of Open Space

• Name: Richard Williams Seabury III, 74
• Married: Seabury married Susan Stiegler Seabury in 1965. She was born and raised in Montville. Their families had known each other for years, but the two became interested in each other at a Republican Club picnic held at the old Alpine House, on Alpine Road.
• Children: Richard, a pilot for Continental, is 43.  Jennifer, who is running for School Board in Boonton Township, is 42. Ann Louise, 35, works for Florida Power and Light and owns a horse farm, and Seabury’s youngest, Bradford, 30, lives in Boonton and is an Assistant Morris County Prosecutor. Seabury also has five grand children. “I’m looking for more,” he said.
• Part of Town: “I’ve seen changes in town,” said Seabury, who moved to Towaco in April, 1943. Prior to coming to Montville Township, Seabury lived in a house in Boonton. “There were three generations under one roof,” he said. The move to Towaco occurred when he was in the second grade. “My father wanted rural. A farm. We lived up on Old Lane,” explained Seabury. “We had eight acres. There was a barn. We had horses and cows and such. I went to the old Towaco School. Nine grades in four rooms.”
• Current Activities: Has been a Morris County Park Commissioner since 1970. He was recently appointed to another term. “It will certainly be my last five-year term,” said Seabury. “I don’t think I should be 80 years-old on it, I won’t be able to climb the mountains like I can today.” Former Montville Mayor, Jim Vreeland “Put me on the park commission. It’s been my labor of love. A lot of hours put in. I have enjoyed every moment of it.” Seabury is chairman of the Land Committee, which looks to acquire and create park land for Morris County. He has been chairman for many years. “Which is good,” Seabury said. “Because you need goals. You need direction. You need a plan, and you need consistently to work at it. And, so often in government you start on something, and there is a change in personnel or leadership, and then they go in another direction, and then they go in another direction, and they don’t get something accomplished.” For 41 years, Seabury has strived for consistency. He has sought to see initiatives through to the end, despite changes in politicians and personnel.
• Montville Land Acquisitions: Seabury sat on Montville’s first Open Space Committee, and helped construct the landmark open space tax credit referendum. It was that innovation, voted on by the people of Montville, which helped to make it possible for Montville Township to purchase as much open space as is has. He was one of the driving forces behind the Pyramid Mountain Park in northern Montville Township.
• Other Activities: He has served on the Morris County Open Space Committee. The Morris County Freeholders recently appointed him to the Rockaway River Watershed Cabinet. He is a member of the Montville Historical Society, the town of Boonton Historical and Museum Society, the Boonton Township Historical Society, “Which is particularly close to my heart…some of the family business was in that area,” said Seabury. And The Highlands Historical Group which goes from the NY state line basically down to Montville. He is helping the University of Massachusetts with the new plastics museum. Seabury’s grandfather, a chemist, developed early plastics beginning in the late 1800’s, using Firestone tires. When Seabury’s grandfather met the chemist Leo Baekeland, they began producing Bakelite, used primarily in electronics. “The first thing they made was some sort of a yoke that went inside a meter that Weston Instruments down in Newark produced. An electrical meter. And, of course, the automotive industry was starting to boom in 1906, 1907, so that was a big market.” Seabury is sure that his grandfather probably polluted the Rockaway River, “back in 1895,” he said. “But, I am trying to make up for it.”
• Time: Seabury cannot count the hours he gives to his volunteer work. He feels it is all part of how he lives his life, and his goals. He enjoys being active and involved. He admits he often works night and day to get everything done that he wants to do, and he enjoys every minute of it.
• Career:   Seabury is a 1958 graduate of Wesleyan University. He earned a BA in geology. After that he spent two years at Cornell where he earned his MBA. Following graduation he went to work at Radio Frequency Laboratories (RFL), the family electronics business in Boonton. “I graduated on Saturday and went to work on Monday,” Seabury said. “I remember leaving college with a $10 bill. I needed that job.” He stayed there until 1989. Because it was a family business he was able to make the time for the Morris County Park Commission and for politics. After the family sold their interests in RFL, he thought about retiring, but got bored. He and his wife bought a little local business distributing tubes and laminate, and other niche products. With his own business he had freedom to continue his volunteer work. “In this world freedom is very important. I think you flourish better under freedom than anything else,” he said.
• Most Memorable Moment: In 1976 Richard Seabury was a delegate to the Republican National Convention for Gerald Ford. He counts that as was one of the most exciting personal experiences he has ever had. “But,” he said, “I think sometimes the birth of each child was an accomplishment. I mean, my wife did all the work. But, I think just being there and having a child; having four children. And the five grandchildren have been a great experience too.”
• Favorite Thing about Montville: “its diversity,” said Seabury. “In a broader sense of using the word diversity than we talk about now, which is strictly cultural. It’s long and narrow, so the geography, you have the Highlands, which have been protected from Valhalla up. That’s one type of ecology, exposure and interests. Then you have the farms of Towaco, there are very few farmers left… Then you get down to Pine Brook, it’s quite different along the river. There’s diversity in geography, and in the population. There’s no center of town…we don’t need that. Montville just has so much to offer.”
• Something You Would Change: “No, I think it’s going on the right track,” Seabury said. “They’ve preserved a lot of land, and I had my hand in that.” He would like to see fewer rental units, but acknowledges that is part of a diverse community. He is also not fond of McMansions because he finds that often those who live in them don’t have time to be rooted in the community.
• Biggest Accomplishment: “With Sue, raising four good kids. They are all working, they are all involved and they are all contributing to society,” said Seabury. “I think I have, contributed through my political interests and organizing in getting some good people elected in Morris County…. And, I think, really as a park commissioner all these years, guiding the acquisition of open space.”
• Hobbies: “Well, collecting things. Some people consider it junk, but I do find pleasure in finding a nice old wooden box and cleaning it up…or old car parts,” said Seabury. He belongs to many antique car clubs and often sells old parts at events. “I buy things at Wootton’s Auction sometimes…I pay $35 for something, and I clean it all up, and I take it out there, and I sell it for $60. ‘Boy, this was a lot of fun.’ It certainly wouldn’t have met the approval of a professor at Cornell Business School, but, it’s a hobby.” A hobby that fits nicely with his volunteer work. He is often on hand to drive antique cars for living history events at Fosterfields, one of the park commission’s Morristown properties. He also enjoys finding period pieces for the commission’s various mills, farms and period houses. He likes to see how excited children get when they see something old being used. In addition to history, Seabury is fascinated by geology, politics, and government. All of his interests have helped him as a park commissioner and purveyor of open space acquisitions.
• Philosophy:   “I think you have to be optimistic. I think you have to be involved. I think you have to be able to work with people, and you have to have goals and you gotta stick to it. You gotta enjoy life and you gotta feel that you are making a contribution. Utilize your talents and your interests, you’ll do better.” He hopes the younger generation, meaning those in their thirties and forties, will start to get involved in community. He worries they are so busy that they don’t make time for volunteering.
• Volunteer Advice: “You have to give some of yourself and some of your time. There’s a lot of pleasure from doing it. Don’t do something you don’t want to do, though. It’s not in your brain. You’ve got to do something you’re good at. That’s so important.”

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