Thomas Baeli
Thomas Baeli, 81, of Sparta, N.J., passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, surrounded by family. He was born in Paterson, N.J., on June 20, 1944, where he lived with his parents, Emil and Millie, and younger sister, Judy.
Tom was a graduate of East Side High School. At age 14, he was apprenticed on weekends as a cobbler to his cousin John Spinella, beginning a career that lasted 66 years. At 18, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and served as a paratrooper and military policeman in the 82nd Airborne Division.
After his discharge, Tom in 1967 opened the first of three cobbler shops, Mall Shoe Repair at the Bergen Mall in Paramus, N.J. In 1969, Tom and Francine Golando of Fair Lawn, N.J., began married life in Franklin Lakes, N.J. A few years later, they sold Mall Shoe Repair and opened a shop in Stanhope, N.J., for a few years and then finally settled in Sparta to operate their long-running store there, The Sparta Cobbler, which was a community staple for 45 years.
Tom’s reputation as a hard-working, honest businessman spread far and wide. People became customers for life after their first encounter with him and his charismatic personality. (If you see American flags on a pair of Red Wing Boots in the Sparta area, you can be sure they came from the Sparta Cobbler.) Tom and Francine retired from the shop in April.
He was a founding member of the Sparta Chapter of Unico, the largest Italian-American service organization in the U.S. Tom also was an usher and greeter at St. Kateri Roman Catholic Parish in Sparta.
Though he worked most of the year, Tom looked forward to spending part of each summer with his extended family, including his beloved grandchildren.
Tom is survived by his loving wife Francine; his son Thomas with wife Kimberly; his daughter Marisa with husband Andrès; and his daughter Megan with husband Ross. Tom is also survived by seven grandchildren: Briella, Andy, Kira, Owen, Alena, Ainsley and James.
Tom Baeli’s legacy lives on through the love he shared and the memories that will be cherished forever.
Visitation for Tom will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025, from 4-7 p.m. at Goble Funeral Home 22 Main St., Sparta, NJ 07871. Funeral mass will be celebrated 11 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 18, at St. Kateri Church 427 Stanhope Rd., Sparta, NJ 07871. Interment will immediately follow at Northern NJ Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Sparta.
