CarolAnn Chiesa

CarolAnn Chiesa, age 66, of West Milford, went home to her Lord in heaven on Thursday, May 13, 2021.

The second born of Irvand and Valerie (Majikas) Mazujian’s five children, Carol was born in East Orange, spent the first four years of her little life in Kearny, and then moved to 34 Woodstock Drive in Wayne where she grew up during her formative years. From the time she was just a young girl, Carol displayed a true athletic spirit. During her high school years at Wayne Valley High School she was a very competitive member of the track team but her real sport was field hockey which she played in high school, college, and on various club teams well into her fifties.

After graduating from Wayne Valley High School where she was President of the Class of 1973, Carol started college at Montclair State College where she majored in physical education. Later in life while raising two children and working full time, Carol earned her Master’s degree by attending classes on weekends, and she even had thirty credits under her belt towards her doctorate degree.

Carol’s first job out of higher education was with Ridgefield Public High School where she taught physical education and health classes. She also coached the boys track team and actually held the honorable distinction of being the first female coach of boys track in all of Bergen County.

When the opportunity to be part owner of a health club in Fort Lee presented itself, Carol couldn’t resist. The club, called Five Star Fitness, offered two floors with racquetball, one floor with weight machines, and yet another floor dedicated to dance and aerobics classes. With Carol’s drive and by working with her business partners, Five Star Fitness enjoyed success and even enjoyed the honor of having a pain reliever medication commercial filmed in the club featuring none other than famous New York Yankee Mickey Mantle. In time, a large corporately-owned fitness club opened up down the street. In the end, Carol’s club didn’t have enough resources to compete and closing the business became the prudent move to make. Carol returned to teaching physical education and health, this this time with Teaneck Schools. For the next thirty-plus years, she taught at the districts Benjamin Franklin campus until retiring fully in 2018.

In all of her days of teaching and coaching, Carol always strived to keep the education experience fresh and interesting – especially in an effort to inspire her students who were not natural born athletes. While on staff at Ben Franklin School she applied for a national grant to bring a roller blading curriculum to the school. Awarded to only two schools in each state, out of all the schools in New Jersey, Carol won the grant for her school. She kept the roller blading program going for many years and, as the roller blades aged and needed repair, she conducted fundraisers to pay to get them fixed, and even taught herself to do some of the repairs. She also started an annual track event with the objective being to inspire eighth graders moving up, to choose the value of healthy competition by getting involved with track and field at the high school level. For the next twenty years, this annual event inspired many students to do just that. Carol did a great job of promoting this event in the local newspapers to build up a lot of support and excitement. Throughout her teaching career, Carol enjoyed the respect and admiration of her fellow staff. She was celebrated in her profession for being a real go-getting trailblazer. Consequently, she was called upon to be a frequent keynote speaker at both state and national teacher’s conventions. With a fire in her spirit, balanced with gentleness and approachability, Carol was successful at providing a consistently rich and rewarding learning experience for the countless students she had the honor and pleasure of teaching and mentoring.

Carol met the love of her life at a party. Their first official date was at her brother Harry and sister-in-law Ruth’s wedding. One could not imagine a better way to start a loving relationship than at an occasion celebrating love in the first place. As Tigger from Winnie the Pooh would have said, “They hit it off splendiferously”! After a season of dating, Gary popped the question one night at his parent’s house. With a whole-hearted “Yes” from Carol, they headed off to Charlie Browns Restaurant to celebrate and started dreaming about the details of the wedding. They chose Saturday, November 7, 1981 for the big day. When it actually came, it was a mixed bag weather wise – freezing cold, windy, a little bit of sun which eventually gave way to a bit of snow which made Gary’s friend quip that he always told Gary it would be a cold day in hell when Gary got married. Carol and Gary exchanged their wedding promises to one another at Our Lady of the Valley Church in Wayne, then enjoyed a great reception at Samaras on Route 23 in Wayne. Samaras would later become the former Fuddruckers Restaurant complete with its little amusement park including a merry-go-round for children. In later years when Carol and Gary took their own children there for a hamburger, there slightly confused son and daughter would express how cool they thought it was that their parents had a merry-go-round at their wedding reception. After honeymooning in St. Martin Carol and Gary moved into the second floor apartment above Gary’s grandmother at 1179 Cumbermeade Road in Fort Lee. From there they moved to 363 Griggs Ave in Teaneck where they were blessed with two children – first Matthew and then Kristen. Eventually, they moved one more time, this time to West Milford where Carol lived to the present.

When thinking about Carol, think “Energizer Bunny”. She’d just keep going and going and it seemed like “her batteries” would never run out of power. Every morning began with an hour on an elliptical exercise machine. Then she was off to work to teach classes, coach, and speak at the occasional teacher conference. Her days would wind down with preparing dinner for her family, helping her children with their homework, and grading tests, quizzes, and other papers. On Sunday mornings Carol could be found on the field competing in a game of field hockey. In between she made sure to spend some time with God by faithfully attending mass at St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church in West Milford and by serving her church parish in various capacities. Loving to be together with family and friends, she hosted every other Christmas and many birthday parties, made all the cakes for those occasions and always more food than anyone could possibly eat. She made all of the Halloween costumes for Matt and Kristen and always tried her best to make their birthday parties extra special, like when she planned a baking party for Kristen and all her friends. Each girl got to help bake the cookies and each received an apron they could keep to make the baking party a memorable occasion. Parties for the kids usually included themed T-shirts that she’d have the kids make. They were always a hit and a clever and easy way for Carol to keep tabs where all the kids were when having roller blade parties or go-cart parties. Five years ago, Carol was blessed with their first grandchild and from the moment she got to hold baby Burton for the first time, she was on top of the world!

Carol loved people. She made friends easily! For example, when she took Kristen for her wedding gown fitting, Carol met another mom who was there with her daughter for the same reason. Carol quickly made friends with the woman and they even kept in touch after that chance encounter. She will always be loved for her caring, kind, loving and generous spirit. She possessed a great wit which overflowed from her warm heart. She was a true independent with a can-do attitude. Not your stereotypical phys-ed teacher; she was always her students biggest cheerleader assuring them that “You can do it! She will be truly missed but her family finds some comfort in knowing that she is at peace and with the Lord in heaven.

Carol was the beloved wife of Gary, blessed in marriage for 39 years. She was the most awesome mother of Matthew Chiesa of Sparta, NJ and Kristen and husband Benjamin Smith of Harrisville, PA; grandmother of her adored grandson Burton; and dearly loved sister of: Harry and wife Ruth Mazujian of Flemington, NJ, Diane and husband Michael Lee of Neptune City, NJ, Mark Mazujian of Dover, NJ, and Drew Mazujian and wife Beth of Oakland, NJ: and dear aunt of numerous nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, those planning an expression of sympathy in CarolAnn’s name are asked to consider one of the following two charitable organizations:

The Michael J. Fox Foundation, Donation Processing, For Parkinson’s Research, P.O. Box 5014, Hagerstown, MD 21741-5014

Click Here to Donate Online  Donate by Phone: 1-800-708-7644  or American Cancer Society, NJ Chapter, PO Box P, Manasquan, NJ 08736  Click Here to Donate Online  Donate by Phone: 1-800-227-2345