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January 29, 2018
Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Thursday, February 1, 2018 from 9-10 AM, then to Immaculate Heart of Mary RC Church, Wayne, where at 10:30 AM a Funeral Mass will be offered. Burial will follow at the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Totowa.
Mary Ellen Farnese (nee Tomevi), age 82 of Forked River, NJ, died on Monday, January 29, 2018. She had lived in Paterson sixty five years before retiring to Forked River in 2002.
She had worked as a bookkeeper for Wonder Bread in Paterson for decades before the bakery moved out of the city. She then became bookkeeper for Fairfield Gardens in Fairfield before retiring.
Mary Ellen grew up in Paterson and graduated from Central High School with the class of 1953. It was at a local party that she met Alfred “Fred” Farnese and the two of them became inseparable. They were married on November 6, 1955 at St. Paul’s Church in Haledon and honeymooned at the famous Fontainebleau Hotel. Upon returning to Paterson they settled into their home on East 28th Street which they bought from Fred’s brother Pete. They would spend the next forty seven years there, raising their family. Mary Ellen and Fred enjoyed summer vacations to Wildwood for many years when their children were younger, and then later on they began going on Caribbean cruises and they took trips to Hawaii, Bermuda, and Paradise Island in the Bahamas. No story about their travel would be complete without mentioning Mary Ellen’s purchase of salt and pepper shakers everywhere she went; she had over 200 of them. One of Mary Ellen’s favorite travel destinations was Sedona, Arizona. She had visited there for a family wedding about twenty years ago and had often spoken about the natural beauty of the place. Just recently she mentioned to her daughter how much she wanted to go back and visit Sedona once more. She enjoyed collecting carousel horse figurines and always had a huge pocketbook on her shoulder.
Mary Ellen and Fred had three girls together, but he often reminded his wife that she was always his “top girl.” Sadly, Fred passed away in 2004 and Mary Ellen has missed him dearly. Mary Ellen enjoyed being a grandmother and she has left them all with fond memories. Grandma’s tuna fish sandwiches were always a treat, and playing ‘hangman’ on the back of a paper placemat at the diner was fun. They will all miss her dearly.
Mary Ellen is survived by her three daughters; Diane Jaouen of Hamilton Square, NJ, Debra Migliorino and her husband Robert of Wayne, and Donna Farnese of Forked River, NJ, five grandchildren; Tracy Jaouen of Bensalem, PA, Robert Jaouen of Hamilton Square, NJ, Dana Guglielmo and her husband Joseph of Scarsdale, NY, Amy DiCarlo and her husband Marshall of Pembroke Pines, FL, and Frank Migliorino of Wayne. She was predeceased by her beloved husband Alfred in 2004.
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 Thursday, February 1, 2018 from 9-10 AM, then to Immaculate Heart of Mary RC Church, Wayne, where at 10:30 AM a Funeral Mass will be offered. Burial will follow at the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Totowa.
January 29, 2018
Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Thursday, February 1, 2018 from 9-10 AM, then to Immaculate Heart of Mary RC Church, Wayne, where at 10:30 AM a Funeral Mass will be offered. Burial will follow at the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Totowa.
Mary Ellen Farnese (nee Tomevi), age 82 of Forked River, NJ, died on Monday, January 29, 2018. She had lived in Paterson sixty five years before retiring to Forked River in 2002.
She had worked as a bookkeeper for Wonder Bread in Paterson for decades before the bakery moved out of the city. She then became bookkeeper for Fairfield Gardens in Fairfield before retiring.
Mary Ellen grew up in Paterson and graduated from Central High School with the class of 1953. It was at a local party that she met Alfred “Fred” Farnese and the two of them became inseparable. They were married on November 6, 1955 at St. Paul’s Church in Haledon and honeymooned at the famous Fontainebleau Hotel. Upon returning to Paterson they settled into their home on East 28th Street which they bought from Fred’s brother Pete. They would spend the next forty seven years there, raising their family. Mary Ellen and Fred enjoyed summer vacations to Wildwood for many years when their children were younger, and then later on they began going on Caribbean cruises and they took trips to Hawaii, Bermuda, and Paradise Island in the Bahamas. No story about their travel would be complete without mentioning Mary Ellen’s purchase of salt and pepper shakers everywhere she went; she had over 200 of them. One of Mary Ellen’s favorite travel destinations was Sedona, Arizona. She had visited there for a family wedding about twenty years ago and had often spoken about the natural beauty of the place. Just recently she mentioned to her daughter how much she wanted to go back and visit Sedona once more. She enjoyed collecting carousel horse figurines and always had a huge pocketbook on her shoulder.
Mary Ellen and Fred had three girls together, but he often reminded his wife that she was always his “top girl.” Sadly, Fred passed away in 2004 and Mary Ellen has missed him dearly. Mary Ellen enjoyed being a grandmother and she has left them all with fond memories. Grandma’s tuna fish sandwiches were always a treat, and playing ‘hangman’ on the back of a paper placemat at the diner was fun. They will all miss her dearly.
Mary Ellen is survived by her three daughters; Diane Jaouen of Hamilton Square, NJ, Debra Migliorino and her husband Robert of Wayne, and Donna Farnese of Forked River, NJ, five grandchildren; Tracy Jaouen of Bensalem, PA, Robert Jaouen of Hamilton Square, NJ, Dana Guglielmo and her husband Joseph of Scarsdale, NY, Amy DiCarlo and her husband Marshall of Pembroke Pines, FL, and Frank Migliorino of Wayne. She was predeceased by her beloved husband Alfred in 2004.
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