Former president of N.J. university killed in motorcycle crash

A former president of Monmouth University was killed in a motorcycle crash in Hunterdon County last week, authorities said.
Grey J. Dimenna was riding south on Route 519 in Kingwood at about 3:45 p.m. Thursday when he collided with a northbound pickup truck, State Police said.
Dimenna, 72, of Lambertville, was thrown from his Harley-Davidson and died at the scene, officials said.
The driver of the pickup truck suffered minor injuries. The crash remains under investigation.
Prior to serving as Monmouth University’s ninth president from 2017 to 2019, Dimenna was a vice president and the university’s general counsel for decades until retiring from those roles at the West Long Branch school in July 2015.
He was also on the board of directors for the university’s Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music.
“Those who knew him will also remember his sense of humor and the pride he took in being, as he would say, the ‘funniest man on campus,’” current Monmouth President Patrick F. Leahy said in a statement.
Dimenna’s obituary echoed that sentiment.
“Grey never took himself too seriously,” the obituary said. “His off-beat, disarming sense of humor was always on display, and his friends were forever on guard waiting for the next zinger. But he always delivered his quips with warmth and with a twinkle in his eye.”
Dimenna enjoyed retirement by pursuing a variety of interests.
“From hiking to motorcycle riding to guitar playing to cycling to enjoying live music, especially the blues, Grey embraced life with a gusto that was contagious,” the obituary said. “He was a lifelong student of history, devouring hundreds of books and initiating a non-fiction book club with some of his closest friends. Grey enjoyed every day and embraced retirement and travel with a true love of life and exploration.”
Dimenna is survived by his wife, daughter, step-daughter, two grandchildren, four siblings and many other relatives and friends.