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September 19, 2018
Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Sunday, September 23, 2018 from 2-6 PM.
Funeral Services will be held on Monday, September 24, 2018 at 9:30 from the funeral home, then to Our Lady of Good Council Church, 155 West Parkway, Pompton Plains, where at 10:30 AM a Funeral Mass will be offered. Entombment will follow at Laurel Grove Cemetery, Totowa.
Jeanne Elia, age 84, of Riverdale and formerly of Cliffside Park, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, September 19, 2018. With tears in their eyes her loving daughters stood by her side, wanting Jeanne to stay but knowing they needed to let her go.
Jeanne was born and raised in Jersey City where she grew up in a house on Palisades Avenue. She attended Dickinson High School where she was a majorette. After high school she married the love of her life Peter and started her family. Blessed with two baby girls, they became Jeanne’s life-long devotion. Nothing was more important than Denise and Valerie and from day one to their final moments with Mommy Jeanne, they always knew they were the most loved and cherished part of her life.
When the girls were old enough to attend school all day, Jeanne took a job with the telephone company. She was the kind friendly voice on the other end of the phone line that would provide the information you requested.
In 1963, Jeanne and the girls moved to Cliffside Park. She would remain there for the next 52 years before moving to Riverdale in 2015 to be closer to her daughter Denise. Living in Cliffside Park during the 60’s and 70’s meant that you did all your shopping downtown. Unlike today’s impersonal online shopping experience, buying things at local merchants meant that you got to know them on a personal basis. Jeanne herself worked for Cliffside Park’s own McDermott’s Cards and Bookstore and so she got to know a lot of great people through the Cliffside Park chamber of commerce. Consequently, with her second husband Rusty, she enjoyed dressing up and attending many Chamber dinner dance parties and charity fundraisers.
Jeanne liked keeping life simple. She was a television advertiser’s dream because she watched a lot of shows including favorites like classic movies, Judge Judy, Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, and crime investigation shows like CSI and NCIS. Going out to dinner was great for two reasons – Jeanne loved good food and she loved to enjoy it with family and friends. Favorite dining venues included Outback Steakhouse in Wayne, House of Thai in Kinnelon, The Little Food Inn in Pompton Plains, David’s Restaurant in Cliffside Park, Café Tivoli in Ridgefield, and The Crow’s Nest in Hasbrouck Heights. Jeanne was quite the cook herself. In fact, despite failing health, she was still cooking as recently as three weeks ago. Family favorites included her eggplant parmigiana, escarole and beans, and her homemade sauce with meatballs. Above all else, Jeanne’s life could be summed up as a loving devotion to her family. If you asked Jeanne if she had any hobbies, her face would light up and she would excitedly tell you that her favorite hobby was spending time with her daughters Denise and Valerie. When Valerie would come for visits from Florida, Jeanne would always say, “I’m so glad you’re here Valerie!” In fact she would tell everybody how glad she was.
Jeanne was a love! Her smile could light up a room in a power outage and she always fussed over others while insisting no one ever fussed over her. She was the epitome of hospitality who loved hosting backyard barbeques and always had a nice fresh cake to serve if you just decided to show up for coffee. If you couldn’t remember when someone’s birthday was, ask Jeanne! She knew everyone’s birthday and she was always there with a card to wish them well. Having worked for a Hallmark card store, you could bet it was a Hallmark and the greatest compliment you could pay would be to give her a Hallmark card on her birthday. Jeanne loved to hug Barney, her daughter Denise’s long-haired Dachshund. Even as sick as she recently was, if you asked Jeanne how she was feeling, with a big smile on her face, she’d exclaim, “I fine!” In those rare times when she needed encouragement, her daughter Denise’s partner Charlene would encourage her and lovingly refer to Jeanne as “Jeannie Beanie.”
Jeanne was the loving mother of Denise Gerrold and partner Charlene Nassaney of Riverdale, and Valerie and husband Thomas Camlet of Stuart, FL; dear sister of William and wife Josephine Schellack of Jackson, NJ and the late Richard and wife Joyce Shellack; special Nana to Jolene and Samantha; dear aunt of several nieces and nephews. Jeanne was widow of the late Rusty Elia.
In lieu of flowers, those planning an expression of sympathy in Jeanne’s name may consider St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memorial Processing, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105-9959 (stjude.org).
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, September 23, 2018 from 2-6 PM.
Funeral Services will be held on Monday, September 24, 2018 at 9:30 from the funeral home, then to Our Lady of Good Council Church, 155 West Parkway, Pompton Plains, where at 10:30 AM a Funeral Mass will be offered. Entombment will follow at Laurel Grove Cemetery, Totowa.
September 19, 2018
Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Sunday, September 23, 2018 from 2-6 PM.
Funeral Services will be held on Monday, September 24, 2018 at 9:30 from the funeral home, then to Our Lady of Good Council Church, 155 West Parkway, Pompton Plains, where at 10:30 AM a Funeral Mass will be offered. Entombment will follow at Laurel Grove Cemetery, Totowa.
Jeanne Elia, age 84, of Riverdale and formerly of Cliffside Park, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, September 19, 2018. With tears in their eyes her loving daughters stood by her side, wanting Jeanne to stay but knowing they needed to let her go.
Jeanne was born and raised in Jersey City where she grew up in a house on Palisades Avenue. She attended Dickinson High School where she was a majorette. After high school she married the love of her life Peter and started her family. Blessed with two baby girls, they became Jeanne’s life-long devotion. Nothing was more important than Denise and Valerie and from day one to their final moments with Mommy Jeanne, they always knew they were the most loved and cherished part of her life.
When the girls were old enough to attend school all day, Jeanne took a job with the telephone company. She was the kind friendly voice on the other end of the phone line that would provide the information you requested.
In 1963, Jeanne and the girls moved to Cliffside Park. She would remain there for the next 52 years before moving to Riverdale in 2015 to be closer to her daughter Denise. Living in Cliffside Park during the 60’s and 70’s meant that you did all your shopping downtown. Unlike today’s impersonal online shopping experience, buying things at local merchants meant that you got to know them on a personal basis. Jeanne herself worked for Cliffside Park’s own McDermott’s Cards and Bookstore and so she got to know a lot of great people through the Cliffside Park chamber of commerce. Consequently, with her second husband Rusty, she enjoyed dressing up and attending many Chamber dinner dance parties and charity fundraisers.
Jeanne liked keeping life simple. She was a television advertiser’s dream because she watched a lot of shows including favorites like classic movies, Judge Judy, Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, and crime investigation shows like CSI and NCIS. Going out to dinner was great for two reasons – Jeanne loved good food and she loved to enjoy it with family and friends. Favorite dining venues included Outback Steakhouse in Wayne, House of Thai in Kinnelon, The Little Food Inn in Pompton Plains, David’s Restaurant in Cliffside Park, Café Tivoli in Ridgefield, and The Crow’s Nest in Hasbrouck Heights. Jeanne was quite the cook herself. In fact, despite failing health, she was still cooking as recently as three weeks ago. Family favorites included her eggplant parmigiana, escarole and beans, and her homemade sauce with meatballs. Above all else, Jeanne’s life could be summed up as a loving devotion to her family. If you asked Jeanne if she had any hobbies, her face would light up and she would excitedly tell you that her favorite hobby was spending time with her daughters Denise and Valerie. When Valerie would come for visits from Florida, Jeanne would always say, “I’m so glad you’re here Valerie!” In fact she would tell everybody how glad she was.
Jeanne was a love! Her smile could light up a room in a power outage and she always fussed over others while insisting no one ever fussed over her. She was the epitome of hospitality who loved hosting backyard barbeques and always had a nice fresh cake to serve if you just decided to show up for coffee. If you couldn’t remember when someone’s birthday was, ask Jeanne! She knew everyone’s birthday and she was always there with a card to wish them well. Having worked for a Hallmark card store, you could bet it was a Hallmark and the greatest compliment you could pay would be to give her a Hallmark card on her birthday. Jeanne loved to hug Barney, her daughter Denise’s long-haired Dachshund. Even as sick as she recently was, if you asked Jeanne how she was feeling, with a big smile on her face, she’d exclaim, “I fine!” In those rare times when she needed encouragement, her daughter Denise’s partner Charlene would encourage her and lovingly refer to Jeanne as “Jeannie Beanie.”
Jeanne was the loving mother of Denise Gerrold and partner Charlene Nassaney of Riverdale, and Valerie and husband Thomas Camlet of Stuart, FL; dear sister of William and wife Josephine Schellack of Jackson, NJ and the late Richard and wife Joyce Shellack; special Nana to Jolene and Samantha; dear aunt of several nieces and nephews. Jeanne was widow of the late Rusty Elia.
In lieu of flowers, those planning an expression of sympathy in Jeanne’s name may consider St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memorial Processing, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105-9959 (stjude.org).
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