Michael A. Jamros

Truly loved husband, father, brother, and uncle, Michael A. Jamros, age 70, of Wayne, passed away unexpectedly on Sunday, February 14, 2021. While the pain of his unexpected passing stings deeply, the blessing of what he meant, the great memories that he left, and the knowledge that he is in his eternal home, bring a measure of comfort.

The son of Michael and Myrtle (nee Bauer) Jamros, Mike was born in Passaic and raised in Saddle Brook. After graduation from Saddle Brook High School with the Class of 1968, Mike attended Montclair State College where he majored in Education. Earning his Bachelor’s degree in 1972, he began his teaching career with the Wanaque Board of Education as the Industrial Arts teacher at the Haskell Elementary School. Equipping and challenging his students proved to be a rewarding experience for Mike - one which he enjoyed from 1973 to 1980. Mike decided to make a job pivot at that time and began his career as a Sales Representative with Pella Corporation, where he continued for the next forty years and was still presently working at the time of his passing.

It was while teaching at Haskell Elementary School that Michael met the love of his life. Her name was Caroline and her office at the school was directly across from Mike’s classroom. His students seemed to recognize that Mike and Carol would make a nice couple and they would offer small hints. Both Mike and Carol caught glimpses of each other, each noticing the other's winning smile, but it wasn’t until the end of his first year at the school that Mike asked Carol to join him in going to the end-of-year faculty luncheon at a local restaurant.  With the summer in full bloom and everyone going their separate ways, it took Mike another four weeks to ask Carol out on a formal date. It was the day before his birthday and they headed to one of Mike’s favorite places – the Jersey shore. After spending the day on the beach, they returned home and ended up talking with Carol’s mom until after midnight. This, of course, gave Carol and her mother the opportunity to officially wish Mike a happy birthday. Within a week, Mike headed to France for five weeks.  Carol wondered if she would ever hear from him again, but shortly thereafter she started receiving post cards saying "wish you were here".  When Mike returned he immediately made plans to see her again. Their love for each other grew and on Sunday, June 19, 1977, they exchanged vows in an outdoor wedding ceremony at Skylands Manor in Ringwood officiated by Father Carnevale from St. Mary’s R.C. Church of Pompton Lakes. After a honeymoon to St. Martin Island in the Caribbean, they initially lived in Bloomingdale.

Mike always looked forward to leisure time near the ocean. So great was this love that he and Carol eventually purchased a home in Point Pleasant. It started out as a place to go on weekends and holidays and slowly became their fulltime home base. The commute was rough but to Mike and Carol, it was worth it. Eventually they were blessed with the birth of their beautiful daughter, Caitlin, and Point Pleasant became her first home. As a side note, Mike always had a fascination and awe of houses. Even when he was a boy, he was always thinking of how the floor plan of his parent’s house could be laid out differently and he would tell of stories where he would try to talk his father into remodeling projects and breaking down interior walls in the house. That fascination never left him and when Caitlin was approaching an age where picking a town with a good school district became of paramount importance, Mike and Carol chose Wayne. They had purchased land and Mike’s life-long dream came to fruition as he was able to design and oversee the complete construction of their new dream home in Wayne. Retaining the home in Point Pleasant as a vacation home, we fast forward, and Caitlin now lives there full time; but every weekend, she could count on a visit from Dad and Mom with time spent on the beach, going to a favorite restaurant at night, and church on Sunday. Throughout their marriage and even while dating, Mike attended church and was a faithful parishioner at St. Mary’s Church in Pompton Lakes.

Throughout his life Mike was always involved in athletics and being active. In both high school and college he played on his school’s football teams and after college, he served for a time as assistant head coach of the track team at William Paterson University. Life in Point Pleasant and summer vacations to Lake George through the years, afforded lots of opportunities for camping, kayaking, swimming, parasailing, hang gliding, power boating, and water skiing. In the winters, he and his family loved to hit the ski slopes.

They say that a love between a father and a daughter is forever. Well, that saying would aptly describe the relationship that Mike enjoyed with his daughter Caitlin. She was everything to Mike and times spent with her were paramount and definitely the best times of his life. They got to do so much together – going for long walks around Packanack and Pine’s lake, hiking, kayaking, camping together at Lake George, and snow skiing at Campgaw and Mountain Creek. There was never a track meet or a dance recital that Mike would miss for the world. In fact, tickets for Caitlin’s dance recitals were first-come-first-serve and always in short supply. Mike and Caitlin would literally camp out overnight, even if it was raining, to be first in line the next morning to ensure tickets to see her recitals.

Mike was a gentle giant and easy going to a fault. His greatest investment in life was to that which goes on forever – God, family and friends. Mike was a very special person with a genuine caring attitude and quiet humility who touched the lives of many people and will be missed by everyone that knew him.  

Michael was the beloved husband of Caroline, blessed in marriage for 43 years. He was the devoted, loving father of Caitlin Jamros of Point Pleasant, dear brother of Linda McCrone and husband Patrick of Cape May, and dear uncle of Ian, Robert, and Ryan McCrone.

In lieu of flowers, those planning an expression of sympathy in Mike’s name, may make a donation to one of the following two charitable organizations.

Alzheimer’s New Jersey

425 Eagle Rock Ave, Suite 203

Roseland, NJ 07068

www.alznj.org

American Heart Association

P.O. Box 417005              

Boston, MA  02241-7005

www.heart.org