Maryann Ramsden

Maryann Ramsden, age 79, of Blairstown and formerly Wayne, passed away peacefully at home on Sunday, February 19, 2023.

Maryann was born in Paterson to Eugene (d. 1969) and Mary Chiocchi (d. 1966). She graduated from Clifton High School with the Class of 1961 before working in administrative and data-entry roles with A&P, Stern’s, Aircraft Radio, and Interpace. In 1967, Maryann met Philip Ramsden and they were married in May 1969. They lived briefly in Parsippany before moving to Flanders in 1970 to start their family. They, along with young sons Sean and Michael, moved to Wayne in 1976, where they lived until 1999.

Maryann embraced motherhood with gusto. Whether volunteering as a class mother or a den mother for Cub Scout Pack 137, she sought opportunities to be involved in her sons’ activities. The ends of summer nights in her Packanack Manor neighborhood were frequently heralded by the sound of her calling the boys in from her front stoop with a voice that always traveled far enough to be heard by its intended targets. There was no use pretending you didn’t – or couldn’t – hear her.

Once the boys were old enough, Maryann returned to work, this time as a media aide in the Wayne Valley High School library, where she met a group of women who became good friends for the rest of her life. Their dinners together continued for the next forty years.

Maryann and Philip built a new home in rural Blairstown, moving there in 2000 to begin the next stage of their life together. Their expansive home became a lively retreat for their children and three grandchildren, who will carry fond memories of summers in the swimming pool, frenzied flurries of wrapping paper beside the tree on Christmas morning, and Grandma’s candid appraisals of all things under the sun, from landscape-munching deer to fame-thirsty celebrities.

For more than fifty years, the holiday feasts Maryann presided over were legendary. The family recalls Thanksgivings in the early years that left guests gasping for breath after consuming platefuls of impeccably prepared holiday goodness for hours on end. In the latter years, the epic scale of dining was more restrained, but Maryann’s Christmas lasagna was as eagerly anticipated as Santa himself. The holidays will never be the same.

Maryann is survived by her husband of fifty-three years, Philip Ramsden of Blairstown; sons Sean Ramsden and his wife Monica Buonincontri of Yardley, Pa., and Michael Ramsden and his wife, Amy Ramsden of Branchburg, N.J.; grandchildren Brendan, Delaney, and Finley Ramsden; a brother, Gene Chiocchi and his wife, Mary Chiocchi, of Punta Gorda, Fla.; and nieces Karen Chiocchi of Port Charlotte, Fla., and Lynne Chiocchi of Punta Gorda.

Following the Mass, Maryann will be laid to rest at Christ the King Cemetery, Franklin Lakes.