4 of his relatives died after receiving COVID. Now NJ man lives alone.

Ed Kemble Jr. not sure how the coronavirus first entered his household.

He lost four family members after contracting COVID-19 late last year: his wife, younger brother, mother-in-law, and mother-in-law’s sister, all of whom had serious underlying conditions.

Kemble Jr.’s wife could have picked it up from her store, assistants taking care of his brother carried it in or he could have caught the virus at work. Ultimately, it’s a mystery, the Burlington County man said.

‘It could have come from many different directions. It’s invisible. You can’t see it, so you don’t know where it came from, ”said Kemble Jr., a volunteer firefighter and truck driver.

Now living alone in the Riverside home they once shared, the 61-year-old tells the story of the impact of the coronavirus on his family. He hopes it will prompt others to take the virus seriously and follow guidelines for social distances.

More than 19,900 New Jersey residents have died after contracting COVID-19 since last spring, and entire families have been affected by the disease and experienced the rare heartbreak of multiple funerals.

“People need to be made aware (the virus) is there. People (should) keep their distance from each other and follow the rules that everyone says, ”he said.

At one point, Kemble Jr. that all of his family members were admitted together in the COVID-19 unit at Virtua Willingboro Hospital while calling them on FaceTime because he couldn’t see them in person due to visitor restrictions.

“All I can say is thank God for iPhones,” he said.

It all started in November, when Kemble Jr. said his wife, Barbara, had been taken to hospital because she was dehydrated from kidney problems and had chest pain. She was tested for the coronavirus and the results were positive, he said. Barbara, who had diabetes, eventually got a breathing tube.

Over the next two months, she bounced between South Jersey hospitals and rehabilitation centers, Kemble Jr. said, and died of a stroke on Jan. 16. Leading up to her death, Kemble Jr. said he would deliver her Jersey Mike sandwiches and iced tea to the hospital – one of her favorite meals – but that he wouldn’t be allowed into her room.

The two had been married for nearly 40 years and met when teenagers were growing up in Riverside. Barbara served as president of the Washington Fire Company Ladies Auxiliary in Delanco and a member of the Riverside Emergency Squad and New Jersey Fire Ladies Auxiliary. She previously worked for NJM Insurance and AAA Insurance, and more recently as a cashier at Walmart in Cinnaminson, said Kemble Jr.

“Our whole life has been reflected around the fire service,” he said. “Often we hung out in the park in the city, played and all that.”

“(The coronavirus) contributed to her (health) problems. Her cause of death was a stroke, ”he said.

During Barbara’s hospitalization, the other family members of Kemble Jr. also sick.

His mother-in-law, Ruth Sharp Allen, was taken to hospital in early December after developing pneumonia and cough and tested positive for the coronavirus. She first died on December 2 at the age of 89.

Five days later, Kemble Jr. that his younger brother John Daniel Kemble – who was bedridden after losing both legs to diabetes and being cared for by home care workers – had been taken to hospital by an emergency room because he needed an emergency. dialysis.

He tested positive for COVID-19 in the hospital, Kemble Jr. The virus made recovery more difficult, and he died of a heart attack on December 7.

Like his wife, Kemble Jr. that his brother loved helping others. He held multiple positions with the Riverside Emergency Squad as an EMT and was a lifelong member of the Delran Emergency Squad. He drove for United Refrigeration in Pennsauken and was a Riverside Bus driver.

“John, he answered more than 2,000 ambulance calls (over the years) with Delran and Riverside,” he said.

Less than a week after John died, Ruth Allen’s sister Eileen Wolverton, affectionately known as Aunt Eileen, died in Willingboro Hospital, Kemble Jr. She was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in the fall, he said. She was also positive for COVID-19 and had a bad cough.

She was a member of the Delanco / Washington Fire Company Ladies Auxiliary team, Kemble Jr. said, and she helped care for Kemble Jr.’s bedridden brother John.

Kemble Jr., a volunteer firefighter from Riverside, said he will be getting his second dose of the coronavirus vaccine in Burlington County on Wednesday, along with the rest of the company.

But he wishes the vaccines were widely available sooner so that his family could have received protection. His relatives died when doses just began to be distributed in New Jersey.

“They should have been (available),” said Kemble Jr .. “There would have been an awful lot of people alive if they were.”

A GoFundMe created for the family raised more than $ 2,200 for Ed Kemble Jr. to pay for medical bills, home expenses and funeral expenses. Another GoFundMe campaign started by Kemble Jr.’s niece raised more than $ 5,000.

Kemble Jr. said he is planning a memorial service at Delray Methodist Church, a funeral at a Lakeview Memorial Park in Cinnaminson, and lunch at the Delanco Fire Station. No date has been set yet, but he hopes for May.

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Avalon Zoppo can be reached at [email protected]Follow her on Twitter @AvalonZoppo