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"She had this calming demeanor about her,” Mayor Robert White recalled. “She could handle anything from a physical altercation to something more sensitive -- like a person grieving for a loved one.”
Countless others are grieving the death of the Cuban-born former Hudson County veteran following a month-long illness.
Aedo, 50, joined the Saddle Brook Police Department in 2014 – and was assigned Badge #54 -- after seven years as a Hudson County sheriff’s officer.
Before that, she was a police dispatcher in North Bergen from 2000-02 and 2005-07.
Saddle Brook hired Aedo through the NJCSC Intergovernmental Transfer Program (ITP). She became the department’s first Spanish/English-speaking officer and one of the first female officers.
After New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal directed all municipal police departments to designate an officer to deal directly with animal cruelty cases, Police Chief Robert Kugler had the perfect candidate.
“Norma was a perfect fit,” Kugler said. “Her love of animals was as strong as her compassion for people.
“Norma was one of the kindest police officers you would ever meet,” the chief said. “She had an extreme passion to help others and was always pleasant. Every resident or citizen would go out of their way to comment on her pleasing demeanor."
Aedo lived several years in Saddle Brook before moving to Lodi about a year ago.
After she was hospitalized with an undisclosed illness last month, a Facebook post by her department sought prayers for her recovery.
More than 1,000 comments since then “give you a clear picture of the type of person she was,” Kugler said. “She will be forever missed and loved by all who knew her.”
Aedo died at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Hackensack University Medical Center.
Conte Funeral Home in Elmwood Park is handling arrangements.
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