Jean Lyons

Jean M. Lyons, age 92, of Packanack Lake in Wayne, NJ, passed away peacefully at home on Thursday, March 24, 2022 while in the presence of her loving family.

Born and raised in Bloomfield, NJ, Jean was the oldest of Marcel and Frances (Kolodjeski) Werensly’s three children. She was a graduate of Bloomfield High School’s Class of 1948.

Jean met her husband Frank one night while on a double date. She was out with a different guy and he was out with a different girl but they quickly found that they had a bit more spark for each other than they did for their dates. They began seeing each other regularly and soon fell in love. They exchanged their wedding promises on Saturday, October 30, 1954 at Sacred Heart Church in Bloomfield. The ceremony was followed by a reception at Opals in Bloomfield and a honeymoon to Cuba. Jean and Frank started married life in a one bedroom flat in Hackensack. Three years later, they moved into a new home that they built in the Packanack Lake community of Wayne. There they raised their children and they never moved again.

After graduation from high school, Jean settled into a job that would become a thirty-five year career with Deluxe Check Printing Company in West Caldwell. Working what was known as “the short shift”, she worked every day from six pm to midnight. It was the perfect schedule as it afforded her the ability to be ever present to care for her children and her home and Jean handled it all masterfully. She was able to see the kids off to school in the morning, pick them up in the afternoon, and have a delicious home cooked meal on the dinner table every night which the whole family enjoyed together before Jean headed to her job at Deluxe Check. Her hard work and fastidious attention to details and her loving dedication to her role as mother provided for a loving, fun, safe and secure upbringing for her children. Jean was the definition of fastidiousness. Her home was impeccably clean and organized and her cooking was out of this world. Her daughter Donna especially loved her pot roast while sons Michael enjoyed her chicken parmesan and Kevin boasted about her awesome gravy and eye round. In between cooking, caring and working evenings, Jean loved to steal away a little time outdoors tending to her beautiful gardens around the house. Retirement from Deluxe Check came in 1994 and was celebrated with a big party and a cruise with her husband Frank to Bermuda. Sadly, she and Frank did not get to enjoy many years in retirement as he passed away just two years later at the young age of 67. Theirs was a marriage made in heaven and Jean missed Frank dearly since his passing. Her family gives thanks to God that they are now reunited.  

Without a doubt, the most important things to Jean were her faith and her family. She was a faithful parishioner for over sixty years at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church near her home in Packanack Lake. She loved the holidays and her home was the place where family gathered for Christmas and Thanksgiving. Jean adored her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and was actively involved in all their sporting events, recitals, parties, graduations, first communions and weddings. When they were little, she was always more than happy to babysit and, as they grew, she enjoyed visiting them and occasionally vacationing together.

As friends and Jean’s family reflect upon her life, they are very grateful to have been blessed to know her. Her sense of humor drew everyone to her and her hard work and giving, helpful nature was truly inspiring.          

Jean was the beloved wife of Francis “Frank” Lyons, blessed in marriage for 41 years until his passing in 1996. She was the devoted and loving mother of Donna Lyons-Schmitt and husband Frank of Peru, NY, Michael Lyons of Wayne, and Dr. Kevin Lyons and wife Dr. Maureen Lyons of Franklinville, NJ; cherished grandmother of: Ryan Schmitt and wife Shannon, Eric Schmitt and wife Samantha, Caitlin Schmitt-Marshall and husband Nate, Jacqueline Lyons, Lauren Lyons, and Jenna Lyons; adored great-grandmother of: Logan, Emerson, Addilyn, and Madelyn; and dear aunt of numerous nieces and nephews. Jean was also predeceased by her two brothers, Raymond and Edward Werensly.