Roberta E. Chappa

Roberta E. Chappa, age 71 of Wayne, died peacefully at home on Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021. She has lived in Wayne for thirty-seven years.

Roberta was a Registered Nurse and worked in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Paterson throughout most of her career. She was able to complete nursing school while raising three children and received her BSN from William Paterson University in 1986. She graduated nursing school the same year her own daughter graduated from the eighth grade! Her first nursing job was at Chilton Hospital before joining St. Joseph’s Hospital. She retired from St. Joseph’s in 2016 but enjoyed the work so much that she continued in a per diem capacity for a few more years. She was a dedicated nurse and she loved the many great friends she made along the way.

Roberta grew up in Paramus and graduated from Paramus High School with the class of 1968. This was right around the same time that she met Larry Chappa. They met in Hackensack one day when Larry was out cruising with his buddies in a new Pontiac GTO he had recently purchased. She had a good sense of humor and she convinced Larry that she was of Hawaiian decent! She was also a little untruthful about her age, as Larry was a few years older than her. Larry went to her home for a first date, and she had told him that she was graduating, so he naturally assumed she was graduating from college. But he soon realized that she was only just graduating from high school! Nevertheless, they hit it off and fell in love. They were married just one year later, on July 13, 1969, at Annunciation RC Church in Paramus, followed by a honeymoon to the Jersey Shore. They lived briefly in Wallington and West Paterson before settling into their family home in Wayne in 1984. Roberta’s favorite place to visit was Long Beach Island at the Jersey Shore. She and Larry spent many summers there with their children and family. So many of their family memories are based right there, in LBI. The beach was her favorite place to be, hands down. She also enjoyed reading Danielle Steele novels, watching soap operas (she was addicted!), and making candy. She really had a skill for making chocolates and homemade candies. Friends and coworkers would place orders with her around the holidays, and she has a box full of candy molds! Everything she made was delicious, including her cookies.

Roberta’s greatest joy came in the form of grandchildren! She was the most loving and generous grandmother and her world revolved around them. She would almost get angry if her kids ever hired a babysitter because she wanted to be with the kids herself. Her grandchildren had many ‘sleepovers’ at grandma’s house, and Roberta loved taking them to Broadway plays, Disney, and anywhere else they wished to do. She smothered them with love and they will miss her hugs and kisses.

Roberta is survived by her beloved husband, Larry of Wayne, their three children; Maria Schetelich and her husband Robert of Cedar Grove, Kristin Dutton and her husband Erin of Franklin Lakes, and Larry Chappa of Shawsville, VA, four grandchildren; Olivia and Gabriella Schetelich of Cedar Grove, and Shea and Dylan Dutton of Franklin Lakes, and her two brothers; Donald Bender and Kenneth Bender. She was predeceased by her parents; Nicholas and Marie Bender.