Margaret “Peggy” Pape

Margaret J. Pape (nee Vreeland), age 104 of Wayne died Oct. 17, 2021. Peggy had lived in Wayne for sixty-two years.

Born in Montclair, NJ, Peggy lived in Bloomfield, NJ and graduated from Bloomfield High School with the class of 1937. She was on the gymnastics team all four years she was in high school. It wasn’t long after high school that Peggy was waiting for a bus on the corner of Franklin Ave. and Newark Ave. in Bloomfield, standing in the pouring rain. A man pulled up in a Chevy with a rumble seat and offered her a ride. Considering the dreadful weather, she accepted. Richard Pape’s kind gesture that day led to a first date at Donohue’s Restaurant in Wayne, which eventually lead to a proposal. Peggy and Richard were married in her aunt and uncle’s home in Nutley, followed by a honeymoon in Washington, DC. They even stopped to visit Atlantic City on their way home. They purchased their first home in Verona in 1941 and settled in Wayne in 1948. Peggy and Richard enjoyed a very loving and devoted marriage until his passing in 1986.

Peggy had been a member of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Verona Fire Department while they lived there, and then she was a member at Wayne Fire Company #1 for many years. She was also a member of the United Methodist Church in Wayne, active with the Ruth Circle there. Later she joined the Gold Age Circle of Wayne and was a member for more than fifty years! Not too many people can say they have been members of a senior citizen organization for more than fifty years, but Peggy could! She was an extroverted, talkative friend to so many, and she was blessed with the friendship of so many wonderful people throughout her years. She always had a telephone to her ear and loved to talk! She was famous for hosting holiday meals at her home, and her pot roast was legendary. Peggy enjoyed travelling over the years, and she has taken many road trips, senior bus trips to various destinations, and many cruises including through the Panama Canal. She was most proud of her children and grandchildren, all of whom she loved very much.

Peggy is survived by her two children; Richard Pape and his wife Joyce of Toms River, NJ, and Nancy Eisenhauer and her husband Albert of Cedar Grove, NJ, four grandchildren; Tammy Howell and her husband Joe, Richard Pape and his wife Kim of Toms River, NJ, Tracy Coutts and her husband Chris of Boston, MA, and Sara Yannell and her husband Mike of North Caldwell, NJ, and nine great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by her beloved husband Richard in 1986, by her sister Ruth Savage in 1964, sister Madelene Reid in 2006, brother Samuel in 2006, and sister Evelyn Burger in 2007.