Minnie Parsons

Minnie Parsons, age 95 of Wayne, and formerly of Linden, NJ, died on Thursday, October 10, 2019.

Minnie grew up in Elizabeth, NJ and graduated from the Thomas A. Edison Vocational High School in 1942.  With World War II in full swing, she went to work at the Eastern Aircraft factory as a riveter in the wing department.  Throughout the War, she corresponded with Leonard Parsons, a boy from the neighborhood who proposed to her on the front steps of her home before being deployed. Leonard served in the Marine Corps, stationed in the Pacific Theatre.  Upon his return from the War in 1945, he spent three months in a U.S. Naval Hospital recovering from malaria and wounds he sustained in action. They married on Thanksgiving Day 1945 and honeymooned in New York City and saw Frank Sinatra perform live at the Paramount Theatre.  In 1958 they purchased a home in Linden where they lived from until 2014.  Together they had traveled to Ireland, Lancaster Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Atlantic City and other points along the Jersey Shore.  They took many trips with their church and Seniors Club.  Minnie was a member of the Women’s Auxiliary of the American Legion Post 102 in Linden, where Leonard was a lifetime member. Together they participated in numerous functions for Veterans of Foreign Wars including marching in parades, fund raisers, and wounded warrior outreach. They enjoyed seventy years of marriage before Leonard passed away in 2015.

Minnie is survived by her beloved daughter; Joanne Young and her husband Dennis, two sisters; Kathleen Bobish (husband Richard) and Theresa Finocchio, and one brother; Ralph Venezio.  She was predeceased by her husband Leonard in 2015, by her infant son; Leonard, Jr., in 1954, and by her sister; June Tubbs.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Minnie’s memory would be appreciated to the Alzheimer’s Association Greater New Jersey, 3 Eves Drive, Suite 310, Marlton, NJ 08053, 1-800-272-3900, www.alz.org/delval, or to the American Cancer Society, 7 Ridgedale Avenue, Suite 103, Cedar Knolls, NJ 07927, www.cancer.org.