# EXHIBIT 31.1

Certification Required
by Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Rule 13a-14(a) (Chief Executive Officer)

I, Joseph L. LaMonica, certify that:

1. I have reviewed this quarterly
report on Form 10-Q of PennFed Financial Services, Inc.;

2. Based on my knowledge, this
report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a
material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under
which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by
this report;

3. Based on my knowledge, the
financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly
present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash
flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4. The registrants other
certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure
controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for
the registrant and have:

| | a)
Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and
procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information
relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us
by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is
being prepared;
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| | b)
Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrants disclosure controls and procedures
and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure
controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such
evaluation; and
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| | c)
Disclosed in this report any change in the registrants internal control over
financial reporting that occurred during the registrants most recent fiscal quarter
(the registrants fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has
materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrants
internal control over financial reporting; and
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5. The registrants other
certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal
control over financial reporting, to the registrants auditors and the audit
committee of registrants board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
functions):

| | a)
all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of
internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect
the registrants ability to record, process, summarize and report financial
information; and
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| | b)
any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have
a significant role in the registrants internal control over financial reporting.
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Date: November 9, 2004

/s/ Joseph L. LaMonica
Joseph
L. LaMonicaPresident and Chief Executive Officer

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