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July 3, 2012
Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Sunday, July 8, 2012 from 3-6 PM. Funeral Services will be held at 10:30 AM on Monday, July 9, 2012 at the funeral home. Burial will follow at the George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, NJ.
Emily Elizabeth Schank (nee Esser), age 89 of Oak Ridge and Green Pond, was called home to the Lord on Tuesday, July 3, 2012.
Emily was born in New York City and moved to Edgewater, New Jersey at the age of two. She had also lived in River Edge and Oradell before moving to Green Pond in 1965.
Emily’s sons recall growing up in River Edge and Oradell, and that there was no gym class offered at their parochial elementary school. Emily met with the priest of the school to discuss starting a gym class and before they knew it, Emily was their new gym teacher! She enjoyed teaching the kids and working with them, although her true motivation may have been to keep a closer eye on her own two sons. She later worked at her son’s middle and high schools as a cafeteria cook and aid. She never stopped caring for her boys and even at the age of sixty eight she gladly underwent surgery in order to donate a kidney to her son Ray. She was a terrific mom.
She and her husband Bill (2007) were never ones to sit still and always had something exciting going on. In the late 1940’s, they built a bungalow on Notch Road in Green Pond. The bungalow was actually an old Army barracks that Bill had purchased for $50. He took it apart and transported the pieces to Green Pond, where the whole family helped put it back together again – their first summer home! She was hands-on through it all, mixing cement and working right alongside of Bill. They all learned to water ski at Green Pond, and it wasn’t uncommon for Emily to spend a few hours a day out on the water teaching her kids how to ski. The whole family learned to sail as well, and Emily and Bill enjoyed racing their Comet every weekend with the Green Pond Yacht Club. By 1965, they were ready to live at Green Pond year-round, and they bought a house right on the lake. When Emily thought that snow skiing might be fun for the family, she bought a book to learn how. She made all the necessary garments for her family, sewing them from scratch, including their parkas, and they drove up to Belleayre in New York State to give it a try. Emily was certainly an excellent seamstress and made most of her own clothing from a very young age. When she wanted to reupholster her own furniture at home, she took a job at a Rockaway upholstery shop and learned the craft. Once she was confident enough, she did her own furniture and it looked terrific. Emily also worked for the Taggarts Driving School as an instructor, and her sons recall how cool it was that their mom was teaching people how to drive with Ford Mustang cars. She served as a nursing home aid in Wayne for a number of years and later drew on those experiences as she cared for both of her parents and Bill’s parents during the autumn of their lives.
When grandchildren came along, Emily and Bill got their pilot license so they could visit Michigan more easily and frequently. Emily received her pilot license at the age of 50 and shortly thereafter started taking aerobatic lessons – learning to do tricks with the plane. Her family was grateful that she didn’t pursue more than just a few lessons. None the less, she and Bill traveled frequently with their plane, and made trips all over North America, including Canada and the Bahamas. They visited with their grandchildren in Michigan and often brought the kids back to Green Pond for a few weeks each summer.
In 1995, they bought a camper and would travel to Chokoloskee Island, Florida where they would spend about three months each winter. Chokoloskee Island is a fishing hamlet in the far south of the Florida Everglades where, over the years, she and Bill made some wonderful, dear friends from all over the country and Canada. She continued to go there even after Bill passed in 2007 and loved her time there. She will surely be missed when the conch shell is blown, signaling the start of cocktail hour. Perhaps they’ll all have a toast in her honor on Chokoloskee.
Emily is survived by her two sons; William Schank, Jr. and his wife Nancy of Howell, Michigan, Ray Schank and his girlfriend Kathy of Oak Ridge, NJ, four grandchildren; Karen Schank of Medford, Oregon, Jennifer Smith and her husband Burck of Baltimore, Maryland, Dan Schank and his wife Jenny of Sacramento, California, and Stephen Schank of California, four great-grandchildren; Zachary, Quinlan, and Sawyer Smith, all of Baltimore, and Madeleine Emily Schank of Sacramento, and one brother; George Esser and his wife Rosemary of Tenafly, NJ.
Memorial donations would be greatly appreciated. Please consider The Hackensack University Medical Center Foundation, 360 Essex St., Suite 301-Organ Transplant Dept, Hackensack, NJ 07601.
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 Sunday, July 8, 2012 from 3-6 PM. Funeral Services will be held at 10:30 AM on Monday, July 9, 2012 at the funeral home. Burial will follow at the George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, NJ.
July 3, 2012
Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Sunday, July 8, 2012 from 3-6 PM. Funeral Services will be held at 10:30 AM on Monday, July 9, 2012 at the funeral home. Burial will follow at the George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, NJ.
Emily Elizabeth Schank (nee Esser), age 89 of Oak Ridge and Green Pond, was called home to the Lord on Tuesday, July 3, 2012.
Emily was born in New York City and moved to Edgewater, New Jersey at the age of two. She had also lived in River Edge and Oradell before moving to Green Pond in 1965.
Emily’s sons recall growing up in River Edge and Oradell, and that there was no gym class offered at their parochial elementary school. Emily met with the priest of the school to discuss starting a gym class and before they knew it, Emily was their new gym teacher! She enjoyed teaching the kids and working with them, although her true motivation may have been to keep a closer eye on her own two sons. She later worked at her son’s middle and high schools as a cafeteria cook and aid. She never stopped caring for her boys and even at the age of sixty eight she gladly underwent surgery in order to donate a kidney to her son Ray. She was a terrific mom.
She and her husband Bill (2007) were never ones to sit still and always had something exciting going on. In the late 1940’s, they built a bungalow on Notch Road in Green Pond. The bungalow was actually an old Army barracks that Bill had purchased for $50. He took it apart and transported the pieces to Green Pond, where the whole family helped put it back together again – their first summer home! She was hands-on through it all, mixing cement and working right alongside of Bill. They all learned to water ski at Green Pond, and it wasn’t uncommon for Emily to spend a few hours a day out on the water teaching her kids how to ski. The whole family learned to sail as well, and Emily and Bill enjoyed racing their Comet every weekend with the Green Pond Yacht Club. By 1965, they were ready to live at Green Pond year-round, and they bought a house right on the lake. When Emily thought that snow skiing might be fun for the family, she bought a book to learn how. She made all the necessary garments for her family, sewing them from scratch, including their parkas, and they drove up to Belleayre in New York State to give it a try. Emily was certainly an excellent seamstress and made most of her own clothing from a very young age. When she wanted to reupholster her own furniture at home, she took a job at a Rockaway upholstery shop and learned the craft. Once she was confident enough, she did her own furniture and it looked terrific. Emily also worked for the Taggarts Driving School as an instructor, and her sons recall how cool it was that their mom was teaching people how to drive with Ford Mustang cars. She served as a nursing home aid in Wayne for a number of years and later drew on those experiences as she cared for both of her parents and Bill’s parents during the autumn of their lives.
When grandchildren came along, Emily and Bill got their pilot license so they could visit Michigan more easily and frequently. Emily received her pilot license at the age of 50 and shortly thereafter started taking aerobatic lessons – learning to do tricks with the plane. Her family was grateful that she didn’t pursue more than just a few lessons. None the less, she and Bill traveled frequently with their plane, and made trips all over North America, including Canada and the Bahamas. They visited with their grandchildren in Michigan and often brought the kids back to Green Pond for a few weeks each summer.
In 1995, they bought a camper and would travel to Chokoloskee Island, Florida where they would spend about three months each winter. Chokoloskee Island is a fishing hamlet in the far south of the Florida Everglades where, over the years, she and Bill made some wonderful, dear friends from all over the country and Canada. She continued to go there even after Bill passed in 2007 and loved her time there. She will surely be missed when the conch shell is blown, signaling the start of cocktail hour. Perhaps they’ll all have a toast in her honor on Chokoloskee.
Emily is survived by her two sons; William Schank, Jr. and his wife Nancy of Howell, Michigan, Ray Schank and his girlfriend Kathy of Oak Ridge, NJ, four grandchildren; Karen Schank of Medford, Oregon, Jennifer Smith and her husband Burck of Baltimore, Maryland, Dan Schank and his wife Jenny of Sacramento, California, and Stephen Schank of California, four great-grandchildren; Zachary, Quinlan, and Sawyer Smith, all of Baltimore, and Madeleine Emily Schank of Sacramento, and one brother; George Esser and his wife Rosemary of Tenafly, NJ.
Memorial donations would be greatly appreciated. Please consider The Hackensack University Medical Center Foundation, 360 Essex St., Suite 301-Organ Transplant Dept, Hackensack, NJ 07601.
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