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Coast To Coast Entertainments John Maurer Dies At 50
DOVER, NJ -- John Maurer, who helped reshape the amusement industry's skill crane segment, died on Aug. 8 at St. Clair's Hospice here. He was 50. Maurer, along with his business partner and friend Gary Balaban, founded Coast to Coast Entertainment LLC in 1999. The partners grew the startup organization into a major supplier of skill cranes and other arcade amusement devices. The company was recognized three times by the Amusement and Music Operators Association's Innovator Award. Maurer and Balaba...
August 9, 2017 | Staff Reporters
DOVER, NJ -- John Maurer, who helped reshape the amusement industry's skill crane segment, died on Aug. 8 at St. Clair's Hospice here. He was 50.
Maurer, along with his business partner and friend Gary Balaban, founded Coast to Coast Entertainment LLC in 1999. The partners grew the startup organization into a major supplier of skill cranes and other arcade amusement devices. The company was recognized three times by the Amusement and Music Operators Association's Innovator Award.
Maurer and Balaban also operated a pair of arcades, Bev & Wally's and the Game Room, on the boardwalk in Keansburg, NJ. Maurer served as the New Jersey Amusement Association's president for four years and held a seat on its board of directors for 14 years. Maurer was an amusement operator in south Jersey before he became an importer of amusement machines in the late 1980s.
"John helped build one of the premier companies that has changed the industry's opinion of imported amusement machines and cranes," said Balaban, who has known Maurer for 30 years.
The partners sold Coast to Coast to Elaut USA (Lakewood, NJ), the U.S. unit of the Belgian skill crane manufacturer of the same name, two years ago.
He is survived by his parents, Mary and Robert Maurer; his wife of 24 years, Kimberly; sons Andrew and Christopher; his sister Laura and her husband Jeffrey Reeves; and brothers Robert (Susan;) and Michael (Dawn);
A viewing will be held Friday, Aug. 11, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Branchburg Funeral Home 910 U.S. Hwy. 202 South, Branchburg, NJ. A prayer service will be held at the funeral home on Saturday, Aug. 12, at 10:30 a.m., followed by interment at St. Bernard Cemetery in Bridgewater.
Memorial contributions in memory of John Maurer can be made to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 136 Mountain Boulevard, Basking Ridge, NJ 07920.
