Amanda Elizabeth Neufeld

Amanda Elizabeth Neufeld (nee DeFeo), age 38, of Pompton Plains passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on Tuesday, May 17, 2022.

Amanda was born in Ridgewood and spent her formative years living in Haledon.  She was one of three children to Daniel and Giuliana DeFeo.   At about the age of thirteen, Amanda and her family moved to Wayne, NJ.  As a young girl growing up, Amanda played little league softball and truly enjoyed it.  While living in Wayne she attended Wayne Valley High School.  As a student at Wayne Valley, she was elected President of her senior class and played for the Wayne Valley HS girls’ varsity softball team.  As President of her senior class, she took on the responsibility for organizing her class reunions over the years.   Amanda also excelled in Audio Visual Production as a young girl and participated in theatre productions while a student.  One of her shining moments was playing the character of Mae Paterson in her eighth-grade play.  Amanda had many friends growing up and cherished all their friendships throughout her lifetime.

Following Amanda’s graduation from Wayne Valley High School with the class of 2001, she enrolled at William Paterson University where she studied Communications.  Amanda earned her bachelor’s degree in Communications in 2006.

Amanda Found work quickly working for her family’s business Dif’s Electrical Services Inc. located in Paterson and Wayne. While working closely with her family, she shared the title of Office Manager with her mom Giuliana.  After working at the family business for about thirteen years, Amanda accepted another position at UBS Financial in Weehawken, NJ.  There, she was employed in Project Management Support.  Amanda worked for UBS for the next four years until her passing.

In 2005 while still in college, Amanda took a job as a hostess at a local bar and restaurant.  While working as a hostess she caught the eye of a handsome young man named Wayne Neufeld who ate his lunch there at the restaurant several days a week. Wayne asked Amanda out for some dinner and the two hit it off great.  Amanda and Wayne started dating and as fate would have it, they fell in love and became husband and wife on October 11, 2008.  The couple got married at St Anthony’s Church in Hawthorne and the newlyweds immediately settled in Pompton Plains where they have been ever since.  Shortly after moving to Pompton Plains, Amanda and Wayne welcomed the births of both their sons, Justin, and John.

As her two boys started growing up, Amanda devoted herself to her sons.  She took on the position of assistant coach for their baseball and soccer teams and attended many of their Boy Scout meetings.

Amanda enjoyed gardening in her front and back yard, planting flowers and decorating her home’s landscape.   She continued to play softball in local leagues for fun for several years and liked to go hiking.  Above all else, Amanda’s greatest passion was for her family and her dog Marley. Nothing in the world meant more to Amanda than providing for and spending time with her children, family, dog and friends. Amanda was wonderfully social with everyone that she met and made friends wherever she went.  She was delightfully outgoing and could talk to anyone about anything.  She was a brilliant listener and always took in everything someone said to her.  Friends and family would often get surprised by Amanda with specific gifts they had only mention to her in passing during a casual conversation.  She was extremely thoughtful, generous, and constantly put the needs and wants of others around her before her own.  Amanda was a truly special person who touched the lives of many people and will be sincerely missed by everyone that knew her.

Amanda is survived by her husband Wayne Neufeld of Pompton Plains, NJ, two sons; Justin Daniel Neufeld of Pompton Plains, NJ, and John Preston Neufeld of Pompton Plains, NJ, her parents Giuliana and Daniel DeFeo of Wayne, NJ, one sister Sheri Salamanca and her husband Paul of Chester, NJ, one brother Daniel S DeFeo and his wife Cheryl of Hillsdale, NJ, and her grandfather Luciano Mifka of Paterson, NJ, her aunt Madeline Mifka of Paterson, NJ, her mother in law Kristin Neufeld of Rochester, NY, her sister in laws; Terumi Neufeld of Westport, MA and Sayumi Lilie and her husband Gerald of Framingham, MA, five nieces; Kaylee, Emilia, Emma, Elizabeth, and Ella, and  two nephews; Jackson, and Mason..  She was predeceased by her father in law John Neufeld and three of her grandparents; Dante DeFeo, Rose DeFeo, and Elizabeth Mifka.

In lieu of flowers donations in Amanda's namecan be made to the American foundation for Suicide Prevention,  http://www.afsp.org