Eminent domain activist remembered for integrity
82-year-old MTOTSA resident dies in home she had been fighting to save
BY CHRISTINE VARNO Staff Writer

Anna DeFaria, who was a resident of Long Branch, speaks to a crowd at a rally in the MTOTSA neighborhood in August with attorney Peter Wegener and attorneys from the Institute for Justice.

LONG BRANCH - Anna DeFaria is being remembered for many things, especially for her dedication to saving her oceanfront home and neighborhood from being redeveloped.

DeFaria, 82, died at her Marine Terrace home Nov. 14 after battling an illness for two months.

"I think she was a phenomenal woman," said Denise Hoagland, a friend and neighbor of "Miss Ann."

"She had the utmost integrity that I have ever seen," Hoagland said, adding, "She was an amazing person."

DeFaria resided in what has come to be known as the Marine Terrace, Ocean Terrace and Seaview Avenue, or MTOTSA, neighborhood.

She and her late husband, Antone, purchased the home as a summer bungalow 47 years ago. In 1970 they moved into the home permanently and raised their four children on the city's oceanfront.

DeFaria dedicated the last years of her life fighting to save that home from being taken away from her by the city through eminent domain for a private redevelopment project.

DeFaria joined forces with her neighbors and became an outspoken member of the MTOTSA alliance and was a regular at the bimonthly City Council meetings.

"When I picture Miss Ann, I picture how many times she stood up at the council meetings," said Hoagland, who is also a MTOTSA member.

"After she would go up, the thing I was always impressed with was how she always said, 'God bless you and I hope you heal from this' before she sat down," she said.

DeFaria worked as an aide at Long Branch High School for 16 years. At the age of 59, she returned to school and earned her GED diploma.

She then went on to college to earn her Early Childhood Education Certificate. She taught prekindergarten in the city for 15 years and retired in 2002 at the age of 77.

DeFaria's neighborhood is located in the city's Beachfront North, Phase II redevelopment zone. Plans call for the neighborhood to be razed and replaced with a luxury condominium project.

A case to stop the taking of the homes is in the appellate division of the state Superior Court. DeFaria's fight will continue through her four daughters, according to her daughter, Andrea Conneely.

"My sisters and I are in this to the end," Conneely said.

"My mother was a woman of very strong conviction," she said. "She would get up at those council meetings and tell the people trying to take her home that she would pray for them.

"She didn't hold a grudge," she added.

The MTOTSA group has lost several of its senior citizens since the eminent domain cause started, according to Hoagland.

She added that last year the city started boarding up homes in the neighborhood that have been acquired for the redevelopment project.

Two of those houses were on both sides of DeFaria's home.

"It is very difficult to live amongst boarded homes," Hoagland said. "It is not a healthy environment to be in."

Conneely said that on Friday she was driving with her son in the MTOTSA neighborhood before going to her mother's services.

"He looked at me and said, 'Nanny has boarded-up houses all around her home. It is really depressing,' " Conneely said.

She added that she was proud of her mother.

"She stood up for what was right," Conneely said. "We are going to continue that for her."