Firefighter and ex-fire chief Joseph E. Bove, III, 53, on March 13, 2014 responded with his fire department to a report of a smell of gas at a home in a multi-unit residential housing complex. After shutting off the gas and clearing the incident, Firefighter Bove went home and shortly thereafter collapsed from a cause of injury still to be reported. Joseph E. Bove, III was treated and transported to the Old Bridge Regional Hospital where he succumbed to his injury.
Joseph E. Bove, III was predeceased by parents, Jean and Joseph Bove and his brother, Thomas Bove. Surviving are his wife of 31 years, Renata Elizabeth Bove, who was his high school sweetheart, and their children, Jacqueline Bove, Joseph Edward Bove, IV and Anthony Bove and his high school sweetheart, Tara, all of Spotswood; his brother, Michael (Colleen) Bove of South River; two sisters, Donna Bove of Monroe Township and Lynn Reid of Milltown; his mother-in-law, Stella Gut, and brother-in-law, James Gut, both of Freehold; four sisters-in-law, Cher Bove of South River, Donna (Robert) Mitzelman and Terri (Sebastian) Mincer, all of Freehold and Barbara (Laszlo) Nyitrai of South Brunswick, and fourteen nieces and nephews, Christopher, T.J., Bobby, Rachel, Matthew, Nicole, Olivia, Sebastian, Michael, Samantha, Gabriella, Michaela, Isabella and Thomas.
To date, 28 firefighter fatalities have been reported to USFA in 2014. Year-to-date monthly and annual USFA firefighter fatality reports are posted online at U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) Fatality Notices page.
