Ethel Ferris

Ethel Ferris (nee Hamaid) age 82, of Wanaque, passed Wednesday, February 23, 2022.

She was born and raised in Jersey City to John and Margaret Hamaid.  She graduated from the Dickinson High School in Jersey City with the Class of 1957.

After high school she worked as a secretary for the Equitable Insurance Company in Jersey City and later for the JC Penny Corporation in New York City.

Ethel met William “Bill” Ferris while she was working as a soda jerk at a candy store in Jersey City.  Ethel lived a block to the North of the store and Bill lived a block to the South of the store.  They soon fell in love and after Bill proposed marriage at Ethel’s family home in Jersey City they married on September 14, 1963.  They were married at St Paul of the Cross Church in Jersey City, had their reception at the Military Park Hotel in Newark, and honeymooned in Puerto Rico.  They had fifty-nine years of a loving and devoted marriage that was blessed with three children.

Ethel will be lovingly remembered as a quiet, reserved person whose home was always immaculate.  She loved her rose garden and also grew tomatoes in the backyard.  Through the years she had two Cocker Spaniel dogs Dusty, and Mitsi whom she loved dearly. In her retirement Ethel enjoyed playing cards with friends at the Wanaque Reserve where she lived.

Ethel was the loving wife of William Ferris; devoted mother of Patty VanKirk and her husband Matthew of Newfoundland, William Ferris, Jr. of Hendersonville, TN, and Michael Ferris of West Milford; she was the cherished grandmother of Eileen VanKirk, Meagan VanKirk, and Sophie Ferris; she was the much loved sister of Margaret Aslstaedt, Marylou Langen, Ruth Ann Pellegrino, and John Hamaid.  She was predeceased by her siblings Ed Hamaid and Jeanne Fiore.