Steven Joseph Preston (born Prusinoski), of Cherry Hill, NJ, passed away peacefully on December 29, 2015, just four days short of his 94th birthday. Steve is survived by his wife of 63 years, Joan (née Low), his daughter Sheryl Lynne Meyer, wife of Robert Daniel Meyer of Collegeville, PA, and his granddaughter Rebecca Elizabeth Meyer of Philadelphia, PA. He is predeceased by his brothers Joseph Prusinoski and Casey Prue (born Prusinoski) both of Irvington, NJ, and his sisters Jean Mieliwocki of Toms River, NJ and Rose Maher of Union, NJ .

Steve was born in Newark, NJ on January 2nd, 1922 to Adam and Adele (née Przondak) Prusinoski. He served our country during World War II with a final rank of Army Corporal in the 71st Infantry Division, 564th Field Artillery Battalion. He was inducted in October 1942 and honorably discharged in March 1946 after more than a year in the European Theatre of Operations. As a member of the colorful mountain troops that initially trained at Camp Carson in CO, he aided in the defeat of the Sixth SS Mountain Division Nord, and later the liberation of France and the subsequent taking of Germany. During the last days of the war they also liberated the Gunskirchen Lager in upper Austria, one of the sub-camps of the Mauthausen concentration camp that incarcerated primarily Hungarian Jewish prisoners. Following his service, Steve took advantage of the GI Bill and received his BS in Management cum laude, from Rider College (Trenton, NJ) in 1950, in only three years. Later that year he began his long career with the A.C. Nielsen Company. He married Joan Low of Harrisburg, PA in May 1952, and after a transfer to Hartford, CT in that same year, the couple celebrated the birth of their daughter and only child, Sheryl Lynne, in August 1954. Subsequent transfers moved the family to Pittsburgh and Mount Lebanon, PA and finally to Cherry Hill, NJ, where Steve finished 37 years with A.C. Nielsen, retiring in 1987 as a Vice President in Marketing Research (Food and Drug Division), a title he had attained in April 1973.

Steve loved sailing his Islander 28 cruiser and crabbing in Barnegat Bay, launching from his dock in Forked River, NJ, and in his younger years was an ardent salt-water fisherman. He was a trivia buff, collected World War II memorabilia, and was ever in the process of learning German. He always stayed abreast of the latest computer technology and remained computer-savvy into his nineties. In addition, he recently boasted that he could cook anything given a good recipe.

Relatives and friends of the family will meet for his viewing and funeral service on Thursday evening, January 7th, from 7:00PM to 9:00PM at the BOCCO FUNERAL HOME, 1300 North Kings Hwy., Cherry Hill, NJ.  Catholic funeral services will be conducted 8:30PM in the funeral home.  Private interment at Brig. Gen. Wm. C. Doyle Mem. Cemetery, Arneytown, NJ. In lieu of flowers, please support innovative translational medical research on pancreatic cancer by donating to the Pancreatic Cancer Research Center Fund of the Penn Medicine Abramson Cancer Center (https://giving.apps.upenn.edu/giving/jsp/fast.do?program=MC&fund=840853).