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Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Tuesday, December 20, 2016 from 4-8 PM.
A Funeral Service will be held on Wednesday, December 21, 2016, beginning 10:30 AM at the funeral home. Interment will follow at Laurel Grove Cemetery, Totowa.
Bernice Rose Caravaglia, age 67, of Morristown, passed away on Friday, December 16, 2016.
Born in Paterson and raised in Wayne, Bernice graduated from Wayne Valley High School with the Class of 1967.
The most important role of Bernice’s life was that of being a wonderful, loving, selfless mother to her seven children. She was their greatest advocate and fiercest protector throughout their formative years and their best friend as adults. Raising her children as a single mom for many years, there wasn’t anything that Bernice would not do to give them the best life experience possible – always putting their needs and wants ahead of her own. Her house was always a welcome place for all of their friends and consequently, many of them addressed Bernice, not as “Mrs. Caravaglia” but instead, affectionately as “Mom”.
Bernice always loved time spent down at the Jersey shore. As a child her family would go to Long Branch and to Bernice, the best days at the shore were either during a storm or right after one when the waves were really big. She shared that love of the shore with her own kids, taking them often for day trips down to Sandy Hook.
In what little spare time any mom would have while raising seven children, one of the things that Bernice enjoyed most was country music – especially the sounds of tried-and-true stars like Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash. She and her friends were known to enjoy a night out together at The Landslide Saloon in Asbury, NJ. They had a blast dancing together and maybe having a refreshment or two – her own favorite drink being a little concoction called Red Death.
The ultimate animal lover, Bernice’s heart would always be concerned that the squirrels and the birds had enough food, but she especially loved her cats. She had many over the years and most recently, her best buddy was a kitty named Mocha. So close was this cat to Bernice that, for the past ten years, if Bernice so much as sat down, Mocha would be on her lap in a flash. Mocha was good company, especially if Bernice was involved in another favorite pastime – reading a good book. She had a special attraction to horror stories and consequently, read everything Stephen King ever published, but she’d read other genres too, including lots of the books that her kids brought home from school.
Time spent in the kitchen was another one of Bernice’s pastimes. She especially loved to eat cake and pies and one of her family’s favorite cookies that she baked were called Hello Dolly’s. They became famous during the 1960’s when Hello Dolly was playing on Broadway. Made from chocolate graham crackers, butter, nuts, chocolate chips, condensed milk and coconut, she had a handwritten recipe from her mom that was so good, it was very hard to keep an ample supply in the cookie tin.
Like the cats that Bernice loved so much, sometimes it seemed like she had nine lives. Bernice had been engaged in a twenty-year battle with COPD and in 2007, she suffered a hard attack that no one thought she would survive – but she did! Like the other setbacks in her life, she always fought hard and always maintained a genuine positive and upbeat attitude. Her outlook on life and her devotion to family and friends was an inspiration and a wonderful example to those who had the privilege of having shared life with her.
Bernice was the loving and devoted mother of: the late David Caravaglia (2009), Michael Caravaglia of Morristown, Adam and his wife Tricia Caravaglia of Denville, Vanessa Caravaglia of Morristown, Joseph and his wife Shawn Caravaglia of Rockaway, Mark Caravaglia of Morristown, and Paul Caravaglia of Morristown; adoring grandmother of Amanda, Michelle, Kaitlin, Michael, Jr., and Hannah Rose; cherished great-grandmother of Ava; and dear sister of the late Dennis Alexander and the late Robert Alexander III.
If you would like to send a private condolence directly to the family use this condolence section.
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Tuesday, December 20, 2016 from 4-8 PM.
A Funeral Service will be held on Wednesday, December 21, 2016, beginning 10:30 AM at the funeral home. Interment will follow at Laurel Grove Cemetery, Totowa.
Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Tuesday, December 20, 2016 from 4-8 PM.
A Funeral Service will be held on Wednesday, December 21, 2016, beginning 10:30 AM at the funeral home. Interment will follow at Laurel Grove Cemetery, Totowa.
Bernice Rose Caravaglia, age 67, of Morristown, passed away on Friday, December 16, 2016.
Born in Paterson and raised in Wayne, Bernice graduated from Wayne Valley High School with the Class of 1967.
The most important role of Bernice’s life was that of being a wonderful, loving, selfless mother to her seven children. She was their greatest advocate and fiercest protector throughout their formative years and their best friend as adults. Raising her children as a single mom for many years, there wasn’t anything that Bernice would not do to give them the best life experience possible – always putting their needs and wants ahead of her own. Her house was always a welcome place for all of their friends and consequently, many of them addressed Bernice, not as “Mrs. Caravaglia” but instead, affectionately as “Mom”.
Bernice always loved time spent down at the Jersey shore. As a child her family would go to Long Branch and to Bernice, the best days at the shore were either during a storm or right after one when the waves were really big. She shared that love of the shore with her own kids, taking them often for day trips down to Sandy Hook.
In what little spare time any mom would have while raising seven children, one of the things that Bernice enjoyed most was country music – especially the sounds of tried-and-true stars like Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash. She and her friends were known to enjoy a night out together at The Landslide Saloon in Asbury, NJ. They had a blast dancing together and maybe having a refreshment or two – her own favorite drink being a little concoction called Red Death.
The ultimate animal lover, Bernice’s heart would always be concerned that the squirrels and the birds had enough food, but she especially loved her cats. She had many over the years and most recently, her best buddy was a kitty named Mocha. So close was this cat to Bernice that, for the past ten years, if Bernice so much as sat down, Mocha would be on her lap in a flash. Mocha was good company, especially if Bernice was involved in another favorite pastime – reading a good book. She had a special attraction to horror stories and consequently, read everything Stephen King ever published, but she’d read other genres too, including lots of the books that her kids brought home from school.
Time spent in the kitchen was another one of Bernice’s pastimes. She especially loved to eat cake and pies and one of her family’s favorite cookies that she baked were called Hello Dolly’s. They became famous during the 1960’s when Hello Dolly was playing on Broadway. Made from chocolate graham crackers, butter, nuts, chocolate chips, condensed milk and coconut, she had a handwritten recipe from her mom that was so good, it was very hard to keep an ample supply in the cookie tin.
Like the cats that Bernice loved so much, sometimes it seemed like she had nine lives. Bernice had been engaged in a twenty-year battle with COPD and in 2007, she suffered a hard attack that no one thought she would survive – but she did! Like the other setbacks in her life, she always fought hard and always maintained a genuine positive and upbeat attitude. Her outlook on life and her devotion to family and friends was an inspiration and a wonderful example to those who had the privilege of having shared life with her.
Bernice was the loving and devoted mother of: the late David Caravaglia (2009), Michael Caravaglia of Morristown, Adam and his wife Tricia Caravaglia of Denville, Vanessa Caravaglia of Morristown, Joseph and his wife Shawn Caravaglia of Rockaway, Mark Caravaglia of Morristown, and Paul Caravaglia of Morristown; adoring grandmother of Amanda, Michelle, Kaitlin, Michael, Jr., and Hannah Rose; cherished great-grandmother of Ava; and dear sister of the late Dennis Alexander and the late Robert Alexander III.
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