Brittany McGuinness (Powell)

Brittany Lynn McGuinness (Powell), age 32, of Cedar Knolls and formerly of Wayne, passed away unexpectedly, on Saturday, June 13, 2020.

Brittany was born in Ridgewood. She spent the first three months of her precious life in Paterson before moving with her family to Wayne. That’s where she went from being a little girl to a young woman, graduating from Wayne Hills High School with the Class of 2005. Throughout her childhood and beyond, Brittany always seemed to have a song in her heart, and with a voice like an angel, she made a joyful noise as a member of many choirs during her years in school. She would go on to earn a bachelor’s degree in the field of music at Monmouth University where she was also a member of the Zeta Tau Alpha (ZTA) sorority, but her career aspirations ultimately took a different path. Most recently, she worked as an I.T. recruiter for TEK Systems in Parsippany.

Brittany was a true daddy’s girl. She was his little shadow, always wanting to be by him. A carpenter by trade, when Daddy was putting the addition on the house, Brittany was his best assistant throughout the whole project. Brittany’s dad also taught her to wet the line in Lion’s Head Lake where she caught her first fish. Once in a while he’d also take her and her brother James, III out on his boat to go deep sea fishing in Sea Girt Reef, down by the Jersey shore.

Brittany and her mom enjoyed an equally special relationship. They called each other on the phone, never missing a day. They shared great times going shopping or cooking up something delicious in the kitchen. Momma taught Brittany how to cook but Brittany took it to the next level! Her family especially enjoyed her broccoli cavatelli with sausage and her homemade Italian meatballs. She would take a recipe and challenge herself to make it even better. Sometimes Brittany and her mom had trouble seeing eye-to-eye. This would result in threats of blocking each other’s number. But that would only last about ten minutes because, when it came right down to it, they truly had the greatest love and admiration for each other.

Brittany also shared a special relationship with her younger brother James, III. She graduated from Wayne Hills High School just before he was coming in as a freshman but she made sure to share all her high school wisdom, helping him to be better equipped to navigate his next four years. James had a dog – a Puggle affectionately named Babe that stole Brittany’s heart and which she enjoyed as a precious companion during her years living home.

One night when Brittany was preparing to leave after getting together with her girlfriends at the Grasshopper Irish Pub and Eatery in Morristown, a handsome gentleman by the name of Matthew McGuinness was just arriving. Their paths crossed and, after some casual conversation, Brittany headed home for the night, but not before obliging Matt’s request for her phone number. He called the next day and they had a pleasant conversation which was followed by several days of texting one another. Their first official date was to the Sunset Grill in Pequannock. Genuine friendship grew to a loving relationship which ultimately lead to Matt’s proposal of marriage. It took place at the Morristown Green – a sort of town square area of Morristown typically referred by the locals as “The Green”. Matt got down on one knee and, while he had a little trouble articulating the longings of his heart in an eloquent fashion, he did manage to communicate his desire for Brittany’s hand in marriage. Fortunately, she understood what Matt was trying to say and, even more fortunate for Matt, she was delighted at his proposal. Brittany and Matt set the date for the wedding and all of their family and friends gathered to join them in celebrating the marriage ceremony on Friday, December 6, 2019 at the Crystal Springs Resort in Hamburg, NJ. After a honeymoon in the capital city of Nassau, in the Bahamas, they chose Cedar Knolls to be the place to begin their married life. Sadly, their marriage spanned a mere six months but thankfully, it was a sweet time of love and abiding devotion. Matt will certainly be able to cherish lots of special memories of the times he and Brittany spent together. They shared a love of summering down the shore in places like Point Pleasant, Seaside and Belmar, hiking to the castle on Ramapo Reservation – a place where her Dad would take her as a child, and celebrating the fall season by taking a ride up to Penning’s Farm in Warwick, NY to go apple picking.

When asked to describe Brittany, her family expressed their feelings about her with words like “caring”, “compassionate”, “loving”, “generous” to the point of giving you the shirt off her back if she felt you needed it more than she did, “strong

willed” to the point of sometimes being a real pain in the posterior, and “fiercely loyal”. If someone spoke ill of a person that Brittany respected, she would defend that person like a mamma lion defending her cubs. You always knew Brittany had your back and she had a natural ability of putting people at ease from the first time she met them. She was the life of the party and lit up the room always able to make people laugh.

Brittany was the beloved wife of Matthew McGuinness; loving daughter of Karen Limone of Wayne, and James Powell of Brick; dear sister of James Powell, III and girlfriend Suzy Falcicchio of Morristown; cherished maternal granddaughter of Lucille Limone of Hawthorne and the late Anthony Limone; cherished paternal granddaughter of the late Marion “Meema” Powell; cherished niece of RoseLynn Shawah and husband Gary, Anthony Limone, Jr. and wife Denise, Mary Powell, Glenda Grandioso, and Melvin Powell; dear daughter-in-law of John and Judith McGuinness, dear sister-in-law of Charlie McGuinness and wife Beth, and Annie McGuinness; sweet aunt of two nephews and one niece; dear cousin of numerous cousins; step grandchild of Anthony “Poppy” Cervone; and step daughter to Maureen Scheper, step sister to Stephanie Reustle of Rumson, Jessica Scheper of Byram, and Christopher Scheper of Bloomingdale.