Michael Jerome Metzger passed away June 2, 2026, in Summit, NJ after a long struggle with Parkinson’s disease.

Michael was born January 9, 1938, in Buffalo New York. He was a long-time resident of Westfield, NJ. Michael was husband to Janice (Komarek) for 65 years. He was father to Gretchen Grove, Tim Metzger (Julia), Eric Metzger (Kathleen) and Kris Ammerlaan (Ed); his dear daughter in law, Robin predeceased him. He was a devoted grandfather to thirteen (Alexa, Montana, Sam, Sydney, Mary, Madelyn, Nemo, Lillian, Nikolas, Cooper, Amanda, Casey, and James), and great grandfather to five (Elaina, Lincoln, Jack, Elijah, Cailey).

Michael was one of four children, MaryAnn Fulciniti (predeceased), Mark Metzger (predeceased) and Anne Sabo, of Tonawanda, NY. As a child Michael loved the outdoors, camping outside and being a Boy Scout. He had a talent for cooking and at age 14 he served as a cook in the Boy Scouts. He served in the US Army National Guard and then as an Army reservist. He was again a cook in the Army Reserves.

Michael met Janice while attending Buffalo State University as Art Education Majors. Michael went on to be accepted into a competitive Master of Fine Arts program at Cranbook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. After graduate school, the young family of five at that point, moved to NJ where Michael became a Professor of Fine Arts at Kean University in Union, NJ. Michael taught printmaking, painting and other art courses for 42 years. This included teaching at the NJ Center for the Visual Arts, and Newark Museum. He was a member of the Printmaking Council of New Jersey. Michael’s landscape paintings and prints have been shown at numerous galleries in New Jersey in solo, two-person, juried and group exhibitions. As Michael’s parents worked in factories, he was especially proud of his educational and professional achievements.

Michael loved bonsai trees and gardening and doing his lawn with a push mower. He loved to prune and trim all his flowers and bushes and trees in his beloved garden. He took his bonsai plants with him when he wintered in Port Charlotte, Florida. Recently, Michael said he was setting his bonsai free after planting them in Florida. Michael loved classical music, opera and folk music. He and his wife took their children to concerts and exposed them to the arts. They also took groups of grandchildren at a time to theatre in New York City, to museums and historical sites and on trips as far as Rome. Michael and Janice were frequent card players with their good friends and taught their children and grandchildren to play ‘Chinese rummy’. Playing cards at the Metzger household was a family tradition.

Michael loved to travel with his wife, Janice. Together they visited 48 countries and traveled across the U.S. Their trips abroad included immersive experiences in culture, history and art and architecture of the places they visited in Asia, Africa and Europe. Michael was known to road trip to Maine on the spur of the moment when his wife had an urge for lobster; he would be sure to make a stop at LL Bean as well.

Michael was a lover of imported beer and shared that love with his adult children. While traveling Michael collected pins from countries he visited, creative and quirky T-shirts, baseball caps, and beer coasters from around the world. Michael had a great wit, and a wonderful sense of humor. He was a master of dad jokes and someone who appreciated a clever pun. He made us all laugh.

He will be deeply missed by his family and many friends.

A Memorial Gathering will be held on Tuesday, June 9, 2026 from 10:00am to 12:00pm at Higgins and Bonner Echo Lake Funeral Home, Westfield, NJ. Burial will follow at Fairview Cemetery, Westfield, NJ.