John Palsi, Jr., the 'Red' in Redd's Bar and Restaurant in Carlstadt, dies at 84
Apr 10, 2018Photo: Kevin R. Wexler/NorthJersey.com)John Palsi Jr., the “Red” in Redd’s Bar and Restaurant near the Meadowlands Sports Complex in Carlstadt, died Friday at his home in East Rutherford. He was 84.Palsi opened the sports restaurant bar with his sons David and Douglas (the two “d”s in Redd's) in 2002 after operating the Halfway Go-Go Bar and Grill on the same property at Washington Avenue and Paterson Plank Road for nearly half a century.Palsi watched stoically as the go-go bar was ripped apart to make way for a more family-friendly establishment.“I’m doing this for my children,” Palsi told The Record in 2002.John Palsi, Jr., the “Red” in Redd’s Bar and Restaurant near the Meadowlands Sports Complex in Carlstadt. (Photo: Courtesy of Douglas Palsi)The bar was among the first casualties of Carlstadt’s crackdown on adult entertainment businesses in the late 1990s. Palsi announced the closure voluntarily, wanting a better, cleaner life for his restaurateur sons.Palsi made his children and wife, Elsie “Tootsie” Palsi, a priority from the moment they entered his life, said Douglas, the youngest of Palsi’s five children. Palsi met Tootsie at East Rutherford High School and married her in 1957 after returning from the Korean War, where he served on the destroyer USS Abbot.“He always put his family first and sacrificed so much for us,” Douglas said. “He was always home for dinners, always at all the ballgames, always around for all the holidays.”That was no easy feat during Palsi’s 80- to 90- hour work weeks. By the time Douglas was born, Palsi’s trademark red hair had turned mostly gray – likely from the stress of trying to do it all, Douglas said.Palsi would often go to his beach house in Point Pleasant to unwind, finding extra joy in fishing trips with his daughter with special needs, Darlene. He named his fishing boat, Miss Darlene, after her and never missed Darlene’s appearances with the Special Olympics.“He was a really tough guy but my sister walked on water with him,” Douglas ... (NorthJersey.com)
