Doris Lepari

Doris M. Lepari, age 92, of Basking Ridge and a former longtime resident of Wayne, passed away peacefully on Friday, September 2, 2022.

The first of Frank and Frances (Flynn) Warner’s three children, Doris was born in Paterson and raised in Hawthorne at the family home located at 46 Kingston Ave. The classic oldest child, while her sister Carole was known to occasionaly stick her tongue out at her father in defiance after a whooping, and her brother Dick once drove a car off a bridge into a creek, Doris was a parent pleaser who always did the right thing.

After graduating from Hawthorne High School with the Class of 1948, Doris worked in a local bank in Hawthorne as a teller.

While in high school, Doris met a handsome young athlete named John Lipari. John was a star football, basketball and baseball player who, while in a game, could hear Doris rooting for him from the stands. They became high school sweethearts who ultimately married on Saturday, May 14, 1955 at St. Anthony’s R.C. Church in Hawthorne. After the wedding the newlyweds honeymooned in Florida before settling into their first apartment in a house on a side street off Diamond Bridge Ave in Hawthorne. After marriage, Doris remained with the bank until one day when she developed what she thought to be flu symptoms. It turned out that her strain of flu was better known as pregnancy. After that, she retired from banking to pursue her new career as a mother and homemaker. She and John were blessed with a baby girl which they named Diane. Soon after, they moved to the home at 44 Rea Ave in Hawthorne and there they welcomed child number two, a baby boy which they named Steven. In 1962 they purchased their first home and moved to 89 Farmingdale Road in Wayne. Doris remained a Wayne resident even after her beloved John passed away in 2005. In 2020, with the onset of the pandemic, Doris moved in with her daughter Diane in Oak Ridge and in 2021, they all moved to Bernardsville where Doris stayed until moving into Sunrise at Basking Ridge in late 2021.

Doris was a true example of a traditional, loving, family-oriented homemaker. Her skills provided a super-clean, well-decorated, peaceful respite for her husband and children to come home to, and a great place to care for her grandchildren when those little blessings came into her life. She believed in sit-down lunches and she was a decent cook. Her daughter Diane loved her veal cutlet and her son Steve loved her pot roast and French toast. Dessert was served at each and every meal, usually jello, ice cream, pie, or a family favorite called junket. Everyone knew the Lepari house in Wayne. It was the one that you drove by that had all the clean laundry hanging on the clothesline in the yard. Once adequately dry, that clothing would come in and it wouldn’t be hung in the closet or put in the drawer until it was neatly ironed. Armed with her coupons, Doris always was looking for the best deals at the grocery store. She loved all the holidays and her house was fully decorated for each one. She’d even make cherry pie on George Washington’s birthday! Every afternoon, while the kids were in school, she’d watch her soap opera and then she’d take a short nap. She also liked to watch Notre Dame and Dallas Cowboy football games.  

Since before her children were born, Doris and John enjoyed annual vacations for one, two or three weeks down the Jersey shore in Manasquan. It became a family tradition that Doris cherished the most and one that continued for multiple decades, right up until recently. She and John also enjoyed vacations with friends to Hawaii, Bermuda, and annual trips to the Poconos.

Doris enjoyed the blessing of many friends. She enjoyed hosting them for games of Pokeno and she’d frequently get together with them to go shopping followed by lunch. Doris liked to take care of herself. She loved looking fashionable and she enjoyed going out with her daughter Diane to get her nails done. Everyone at Sunrise always complimented her on how nice she looked. She also loved it when old friends would visit her at Sunrise and take her out to lunch.    

Above all else, faith and family were the cornerstones of Doris’ life.

As a devout catholic in her Christian walk, when they moved to Wayne, Doris, along with John, became charter members of a then-new church in Wayne called Our Lady of Consolation R.C. Church. Doris was always very proud of the fact that they were charter members and they were regulars at Sunday’s 10:30 mass where John also served as an usher. Doris understood the importance of praying the rosary and for many years, she was a member of the church’s rosary society.

Her devotion to God was only matched by her devotion to her family. Doris was such a loving, steadying presence in their lives. She was loyal to her children, even her son Steven who she’d often say would be the death of her. Even as a young kid sewing his oats, when Steven ran away from home, she’d call the school to make sure he showed up that day. She and her husband John made a great team. The roots of their love and devotion ran deep and, throughout John’s battle with Parkinson’s Doris gave him the best of care. Attending all their grandchildren’s sporting events and performances, she and John were always so proud.

While her life was long and blessed, Doris’ passing was somewhat unexpected. She passed away into the loving arms of Jesus as she slept. She will be remembered and cherished as a great wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, aunt and friend who will be missed by those whose lives she touched along the way.  

Doris was the beloved wife of John, blessed in marriage for 49 happy years until his passing in 2005. She was the most loving mother of Diane Tasker and husband David of Bernardsville, and Steven Lepari and wife Gloria of Lebanon, NJ; cherished grandmother of Amy Shaver and husband Josh, and Sean Tasker; adoring great-grandmother of: Bryce, Tessa, and Ashton; and dear aunt of: Richard, David and wife Sharon, Michelle and husband Joe, Timothy and wife Joyce, and Lisa. Doris was predeceased by her younger sister and brother: Carole Finan and Richard Warner.

At the request of Doris’ son Steven, NOT in lieu of flowers, please feel free to send flowers in Doris’ memory. After all, she loved them so very much.