Phyllis Haertel

Phyllis Elsie Kelley Haertel age 94, of Wayne passed Sunday, February 23, 2020.

She was born the second of four children to Cecil and Elsie Kelley and raised on Peach Tree Street in Decatur, Georgia.  Phyllis was heartbroken when her father received a job transfer and the family had to leave Decatur and she missed her senior year of high school there. The family moved to the Bronx, New York and resided in Parkchester. She graduated from Cathedral High School in the Bronx with the Class of 1942.  

After high school Phyllis went to Hunter College in New York City where she received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry. After college she found work with the Phizer Corporation in New York City as a chemist. When her children were born she dedicated herself to being a stay at home mom.  Once the children were older she returned to school at Rutgers University where she got her Masters Degree in Library Science.  Once she had this degree she worked at the Passaic High School and Belleville libraries. As you could never get the New York out of Phyllis she soon found a job at the French Institute in New York City as a librarian. She didn’t speak even a little French but held a job where the people spoke French and the books were all in French as well. When asked how she kept this job she would say she just smiled a lot and tried to be as pleasant as possible. Phyllis loved this job as she could commute to New York City with Gerry twice a week. Phyllis could shop all around New York and would have lunch, happy hour, and dinner with Gerry all the time. As a matter of fact, in the long run it cost them more money each week than she earned at work.  

Phyllis met Gerry Haertel at a CYO dance in the Bronx.  She knew he was the man for her because he was a big spender having bought her a large coke at the dance. Gerry was in the Army during WWII and the family is blessed to have a box of correspondence letters memorializing their courtship.  They married on June 19, 1948 at Saint Raymond’s Church in the Bronx and honeymooned at Sugar Maples.  Their first home together was a one bedroom apartment in the Parkchester section of the Bronx. Phyllis and Gerry’s marriage was blessed with three children while living in their apartment.  The three children shared a bedroom and Phyllis and Gerry slept on a pull out couch in the living room.  In 1958 they bought a home for $15,000.00 in the Packanack Lake section of Wayne that the family would call home for the next sixty-two years.

Phyllis was dedicated to her Catholic faith and a founding parishioner of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church where she served as a Eucharistic Minister at church and for shut-ins. For many years she and Gerry donated flowers to the church placed next to the tabernacle because as Phyllis would say “Jesus should have nice flowers.”

Phyllis will be missed for her larger than life personality.  When she entered a room there was no mistaking the fact that she was there.  She was energetic, in charge, and considered it her job to have a good time.  She was always saying “let’s have fun” or “wasn’t that fun.” Just this past New Year’s Eve she had friends over and drank scotch; that big loving personality will leave a huge hole in the hearts of those who knew her. Phyllis was a political conservative and you were best to leave that part of her alone.   For many years Phyllis orchestrated a card ministry where she would send cards on just about any and all holidays to let people know they were loved and someone was thinking of them.  This ministry paid dividends as she would get all kinds of cards in the mail as well. Phyllis was a master of the card game Bridge. She faithfully attended and played at Wayne Adult Community Center four days a week.  She loved all of the people there! At the age of 80 she was crowned Golf Champ at the Packanack Lake Golf Club and at the age of 90 she bowled a 200 game. She was truly blessed to have 94 very good years and just two months of difficulty before her passing.

Phyllis was the loving wife of fifty-two years to the late Gerry Haertel; devoted mother of Joseph Haertel of Arlington, VA and Martha’s Vineyard, MA; Cynthia Chamberland and her husband Michael of Martha’s Vineyard, and Claudia Peterson and her husband Carl of Wayne; she was the cherished grandmother of Greg Chamberland and his wife Meredith, Jeff Chamberland and his wife Amy, Keith Peterson, and Kevin Peterson; dearly loved great-grandmother of Braedan Chamberland and Teagan Chamberland; she was also the beloved sister of the late Barbara Linhardt, late Ed Kelley, and late Neil Kelley.

In lieu of flowers memorial donations to the Maryknoll Sisters (click here to donate in Phyllis' memory) would be appreciated.