'Route 9 Pete,' Critically Injured in Lacey Accident, Has Died

A Bayville man devoted to keeping the roadways and woods of Berkeley and Lacey townships clean has died from injuries he received after being last week.

Peter Coppola, 70, died on Sunday night at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, said hospital media coordinator Robert Cavanaugh.

Berkeley resident Lori Deaver, her sons and his friends got to know Coppola during his travels up and down the highway.

"He was a very nice man," Deaver said. "He would walk up and down the highway and the side streets cleaning everything up and never wanted anything for it. He'd been doing it for years."

Coppola had been in critical condition at Jersey Shore ever since he was struck by a car in the  southbound lane of Route 9 in Lanoka Harbor at approximately 6:30 p.m. March 7. Coppola was hit by a 2011 Ford Explorer driven by Jorge Ortega Aguirre, 29, Manahawkin, while he was crossing Route 9 near Musket Road, police said.

Deaver came to know Coppola when she worked at William J. Dudley Park off Route 9 in Bayville during the summer season.

"He would pass through the park and talk to me," Deaver said. "He once told me he walked through Dudley Park, cleaning up the woods, all the way to Miller Air Park."

Her son and his friends called him "Route 9 Pete," she said.

Coppola apparently had little family, Deaver said.

"The only person he ever mentioned was his mother," she said.

Coppola used to own a framing shop in Bayville on Route 9. Once he retired, he dedicated his time to picking up trash along Route 9, Lacey Township Mayor Gary Quinn has said.

Quinn said he had asked Coppola to come to a Township Committee meeting last year to receive a proclamation for his community service.

"This was something that he was involved in for  a number of years," the mayor said today. "He wasn't looking for any notoriety or accolades. It was just something he enjoyed doing. I thought that was certainly something that you rarely see nowadays."

Coppola was a private person, Quinn said.

"He was they type of individual that kept to himself," the mayor said. "He could engage in conversation, but it was never a long conversation. Otherwise, you would have to drag the words out of him."

Quinn said he was waiting to hear about funeral arrangements. If the family can be located, Quinn wants to recognize Coppola.

"I certainly want the family to know how involved he was in the community and how much the community appreciated what he did," Quinn said.

Patch has not been able to locate an obituary for Coppola. If anyone has any more information, please contact Patricia.Miller@patch.com or Elaine.Piniat@patch.com.