George Yuhasz WOODBRIDGE— Longtime educator George Yuhasz was a man who was irreplaceable.

That is what Woodbridge High School Principal Arthur Lee Warren said about his friend, who passed away on Jan. 16 at his home in Woodbridge. He was 57 years old.

“George is a person who comes once in a lifetime,” he said. “All he cared about was others.”

Yuhasz was born in Perth Amboy in 1954 and was a lifelong resident of the township. He was a graduate of Columbia University with a bachelor’s degree in special education and a master’s degree in education.

He was employed by the Middlesex County Vocational Technical System in East Brunswick for many years, as a teacher for children with special needs and eventually as an administrator in the central office.

While there, he served in the athletic department as varsity soccer coach from 1980 until 2000 and as a varsity basketball coach from 1986 until 1988. He was the Greater Middlesex County ConferenceGoldDivision Soccer Coach of the Year in 1987, 1988 and 1990, with his team winning the New Jersey Vo-Tech State Championship in 1990. He also was in the 100 Win Club in the Soccer Coaches Association of New Jersey.

Yuhasz was the president and founder of the Prodigal Foundation Inc., a nonprofit organization located in Woodbridge, dedicated to enhancing the lives of children affected by cancer. The foundation was founded in 2000 and formulated its missions and goals to establish scholarships for high school seniors who have had their life adversely affected by cancer.

He had started the foundation after being diagnosed with a massive carcinoma on the pancreas. He was told he had less than one month to live and called the experience “the worst experience” of his life; however, in 2000, Yuhasz received the incredible news that doctors had found the mass to be noncancerous.

Warren said he met Yuhasz in 2000 at the first Prodigal event held at the Colonia Country Club, representing all three high school principals in the township.

“I was drafted to speak at the affair and after that we became close friends. He was like a brother from another mother to me,” he said.

Warren said he and Yuhasz were both only children and shared the experience of being diagnosed with cancer. Warren, who was diagnosed with melanoma in 1998 and was given a 50-50 chance to live, became the vice president of Yuhasz’s foundation.

“He helped me get through such a difficult time in my life,” he said. “George always stayed positive; he always looked on the bright side; he was just a very compassionate and positive man.”

Yuhasz was also the founder of Pack No. 784 (Scouts with disabilities) and past director of Hand in Hand, a festival for the mentally challenged. He also belonged to the Kappa Pi Education Honor Society, the National Education Association, New Jersey Education Association, Middlesex County Vocational Education Association and the Benevolent and Protective Order or Elks Lodge 2116 in Woodbridge.

Additionally, he was selected to Who’s Who Among America’s educators in 1992, was past president of the Colonia Democratic Club, was elected Middlesex County Ward 5 committeeperson in the 11th District, was president of the Middlesex Hungarian Democratic Organization and member of the Mayor’s Advisory Committee for the township.

He had previously served one term on the Woodbridge Board of Education from 2008 to 2011.

Schools Superintendent John Crowe called Yuhasz “a great man.” The Board of Education held a moment of silence in memory ofYuhasz at its meeting on Jan. 19.

Yuhasz is survived by his daughter, Victoria Haigh, and her husband, Joseph, of Pennsville.