Michelle DeBlasi

Michelle DeBlasi (nee Atieh), age 71, of Pompton Plains, NJ, passed peacefully at home after a long cancer journey, Wednesday, December 20, 2023. She was surrounded with so much love and left this world with family at her side, and her hands held tight. 

Beloved wife of Frank DeBlasi; loving mother to Melissa and son-in-law Seth Hurley, and Jessica DeBlasi, all of Pompton Plains and Grammy to Tyler and Rebecca. Michele is survived by her siblings, Michael, Dennis, Denise, Charles, Evelyn, and many nieces, nephews and cousins.

Born in Paterson, she moved to Wayne at the age of 10. After marriage, she lived first in Highland Lakes, then the Lionshead Lake section of Wayne, and eventually settling in Pompton Plains.

After graduating from Wayne Valley High School in 1969, she worked as a secretary for the American Cyanamid Corporation in Wayne for 25 years until starting her family. Michelle was a stay-at-home mom, selling Tupperware, being President of the Home and School Association, and working part-time for many years at Sun Tan Lake in Riverdale, running their summer day camp, company picnics and working Haunted Hayrides in the Fall.

In 1997, she started working at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) in the Accounting Department, where she stayed until she retired in January 2019. For many years she ran the ASME annual bus trips to Atlantic City, coordinating a fun party bus with snacks, sandwiches, bloody marys and jello shots.

Michelle met Frank while she was bowling for the American Cyanamid Corporation’s Thursday Night Bowling League at Holiday Bowl in Oakland. Their first date was at the Hayden Planetarium at the Museum of Natural History in New York City. Frank proposed at Chan’s Hawaii Restaurant in Mahwah, and they were married on November 24, 1974, at Saint Ann Melkite Catholic Church in West Paterson. They honeymooned at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami, Florida. They loved vacationing at The Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, where you could always find Michelle at the slots or pool. They had a loving and devoted marriage of forty-nine years.

Being a mother was the greatest blessing for Michelle. She would go to the ends of the world for her girls if she needed to. Michelle would express her love not only with a standard, “I love you,” but would do so in other unique ways like, “it’s raining, be careful the leaves are slick,” “call me when you get home,” “because I said so,” and “I’m buying.” She mostly loved the simple times with Melissa and Jessica, like going to the movie theater on Tuesday nights, having breakfasts at the diner, lunches at Sushi Village and dinners at Hibachi, shopping at Kohl’s, playing Hollywood Rummy, and soaking in the joys of quality togetherness.

Lovingly known as Grammy, Michelle would sing different holiday versions of the traditional nursey rhyme, Christmas Is Coming, with her grandchildren, Tyler and Rebecca. Not a day went by where she didn’t see them in person or on FaceTime calls hours apart. Always the card-shark, she taught them how to play War and they taught her Trash. The kids fondly remember beach weekends bringing her buckets of water under the canopy to keep her cool, and remember each birthday of theirs would bring cards with money in denominations of their corresponding age. Michelle would say that her grandkids were the gas in her tank.

Most would define Michelle as a ray of sunshine, someone who would never speak badly of another, and one of the strongest women they know. She beat breast cancer in 1992, and was diagnosed again in 2013, later receiving the news of metastasis in 2017. She was a warrior and fighter, and despite her long battle, Michelle was the embodiment of positivity, always smiling and never complaining. Because of her bubbly personality, she was always the first one to say hello; her genuine interest in others made every encounter feel like a cherished moment. Her outgoing nature transformed strangers into friends, leaving an indelible mark on every heart she touched. Michelle loved watching Hallmark movies and singing competition shows and running an American Idol pool, doing Word Search puzzles, playing iPad casino games with her grandchildren, and being with her family. Her most favorite thing to do was spend summer weekends down the shore in Seaside Heights, eating butterfly fries and playing Pass the Trash and Left Right Center in the shorehouse kitchen with her siblings and family. Her care and love for family could be found just inside her front door, with a display of family photos lining the staircase wall, and always ensuring there was dinner on the table at 6:00pm throughout her children’s up-bringing. She enjoyed 45 years of tenting and pop-up camper trips every Memorial and Labor Day, laughing alongside her camping buddies as they played “I’m going on a picnic” around a roaring campfire. It was Michelle who started the “Thursday night dinner” ritual at her parents’ house, a long-standing tradition that continued for generations.

Michelle will be lovingly remembered for her signature dance moves, her crumb cake and her life mottos: “everything happens for a reason” and “keep the faith.”

In lieu of flowers memorial donations to St Jude Children's Research Hospital would be greatly appreciated.