(Major General Wilfred C. Menard, Jr.)

Major General Wilfred C. Menard, Jr., who served as the twenty-sixth Adjutant General of New Jersey from 1974-1982 and was a founder of the National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey, passed away on Monday.

General Menard was born in Trenton on November 10, 1918.  With war looming in Europe and Asia, in 1941 he enlisted in the U.S. Army as an Infantry soldier and rose to the rank of captain.  Following World War II, he continued his service in the New Jersey Army National Guard where he commanded the 4th Rocket Howitzer Battalion and the 112th Field Artillery Group.  In 1961, then Lieutenant Colonel Menard was called to active duty in response to the Berlin Crisis.  In 1967, he was promoted Brigadier General and appointed Deputy Chief of Staff.  Menard was then appointed Chief of Staff (the term then used for Adjutant General) of New Jersey by Governor Brendan T. Byrne in March 1974 and following confirmation by the New Jersey Senate and United States Senate rose to the rank of Major General.  He served the people of New Jersey until his retirement in 1982.

Over the course of his career, Menard attended the U.S. Army Infantry School, Field Artillery School, Tank Destroyer School, Command and General Staff College, Management School, and the War College.  He was the recipient of the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Armed Forces Reserve Medal, the Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal, the National Guard Bureau Order of the Eagle, the New Jersey Medal of Honor, the New Jersey Distinguished Service Medal and the New Jersey Medal of Merit.

Active in his community, Menard was a member of the George Washington Boy Scout Council, the Kiwanis Club of Trenton, the American Legion, the Adjutants General Association of the United States, the National Guard Association of the United States, the Army and Air National Guard Association of New Jersey and the Deleware Valley United Way.  He served on the U.S. Army Reserve Forces Policy Board and, in 1980, established the National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey.