Gertrude Ellen Storms

Gertrude Ellen Storms (nee Morse), age 106, of Riverdale passed away peacefully on Tuesday, October 6, 2021, while receiving the loving care of her family.

She was born and raised in the family home on Union Avenue in Bloomingdale, New Jersey.   Gertrude lost her father when she was just 15 years old.  Soon after that, Gertrude, who was the oldest of six children, went to work to become the breadwinner for her five siblings and her mother.  During this time, she worked very hard to keep food on the table and had to put her relationships second.

Gertrude and her husband Morgan’s love story began when Gertrude was working at McGregor’s Pants Factory.  It was a little unconventional as Gertrude’s sister Marion first dated Morgan, but as God would have it, Gertrude and Morgan became friends.  They eventually began dating and fell in love. Gertrude and Morgan were dating for a while when Morgan said “All of your brothers and sisters are going to be married and you won’t.”  That statement prompted Gertrude to realize that Morgan was right and that they should be married.  Gertrude married the love of her life, Morgan Storms on June 26, 1937.  She was married to Morgan at the age of twenty-two.  They honeymooned in Niagara Falls, New York.

Gertrude and Morgan built a business together (Wanaque Lawn and Garden) in 1944 in the Haskell section of Wanaque and lived above it in an apartment in 1948 once the building was completed.  In 1959, they built a home on Pompton Avenue in Pompton Lakes and from there they eventually moved into a house they had built on Lake Iosco.  Eventually, Gertrude sold the house on Lake Iosco and moved to Riverdale before moving to Park Place in Hawthorne.  Gertrude and Morgan enjoyed a loving and caring marriage of 61 years before Morgan’s passing on February 6, 1998.

Gertrude was an ambitious person and a hard worker.  She first worked at McGregor’s Pants Factory in Wanaque, New Jersey as a seamstress and later for E.I. DuPont Corporation in Pompton Lakes where she made blasting caps.  Gertrude worked tirelessly and raised her family at the Wanaque Lawn and Garden business.

Gertrude loved her family fiercely.  Her kindness, gentleness and grace were unmatched with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren as well as anyone else that she came into contact with.  She was unselfish in the truest sense of the word.  She was a lady both in actions and in demeanor and was always poised.  She had a keen ability to listen well and to know when her input was needed.   She had an undeniably generous heart.  Gertrude loved God and lived out her faith both practically and privately.


Gertrude is the loving mother of Morgan L. Storms and his wife Judith of Wanaque and Bonnie C. Olsen (Storms) and her husband Arthur (predeceased) of Riverdale; she is the cherished grandmother of Morgan and Linda Storms, Mark and Emy Storms, Krista and Jim Hennessy and Heidi and Aaron Watson.  She is the much loved great- grandmother of Kim and Rich Tucker, Morgan Storms IV, Dylan Watson, Hope Hennessy, Daniel Hennessy, Sadie Watson, Nolan Storms, Isaac Hennessy and Caleb Storms.  She is the beloved great, great grandmother of Yara Hennessy.  She is the loving sister of Viola Clark of Inverness, Florida and the late Daniel Morse, Oscar Morse, Marion Kurl and Pearl Thomas.