Crabiel's death felt throughout county

David B. Crabiel often described Middlesex County as "the greatest county in the land." Regardless of whether people agree with that statement, one gets a sense that Crabiel really did. And perhaps it was that pride that kept Crabiel involved as a public servant for his community and his county for so many decades.

The longtime director of the county's Board of Chosen Freeholders was such a force in local and county government that area residents and particularly the thousands of people who befriended or worked with Crabiel over the years reacted with a collective sense of shock and sadness after learning of his death earlier this week. Crabiel, 78, who was hospitalized recently but had returned home in time for Thanksgiving, died Monday at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick. The cause of death was not immediately released.

Regardless of one's political views or any disagreements with Crabiel's decisions over the years, the people of Middlesex County owe him a debt of gratitude for his nearly half century of public service. Crabiel, a Democrat, began his political career in Milltown in 1960 as a Borough Council member and later served as the town's volunteer mayor for 11 years. He was a freeholder from 1978-91 and again from 1993 to the present. He was just elected to a new three-year term last month.

Crabiel had been freeholder director for 13 years, and he gave many more than the required hours to the part-time job. He held the post proudly. In his annual "State of the County" addresses, he would routinely give updates on what he considered to be the county's latest accomplishments, such as cutting costs and preserving open space. Crabiel spoke loudly and pointedly, and was always ready to discuss county issues, good or bad, when this newspaper came calling.

Not everyone has agreed with Crabiel over the years. In fact, plenty of Republicans and ordinary citizens have criticized or questioned his politics. But Middlesex County voters have always made the most important ruling on his work, choosing to re-elect him every three years.

Perhaps everyone can agree with what Crabiel's friend and colleague, Mayor Jim Phillips of Old Bridge, said this week: "There will never be another one like him."