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Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Wednesday, November 11, 2015 from 4-8 PM.
Funeral Services will be held at 10:00 AM on Thursday, November 12 at the Packanack Community Church, 120 Lake Drive East, Wayne. Please meet directly at the church.
Sonya Nazaruk, age 81 of Wanaque, and formerly of the Packanack Lake section of Wayne and Caldwell, passed away peacefully on Saturday, November 7, 2015.
Sonya was born and raised in Peabody, MA, the oldest of four children born to James and Marion Kushkowski.
Sonya had fond memories of growing up in Peabody with her family and cousins and was active in the church from a young age. She spent many winter days skating on the pond near her house with friends. As a young woman, Sonya was an avid Boston Red Sox fan and enjoyed going to Fenway with her girlfriends. One of her favorite memories was meeting Mickey Mantle in a local restaurant after one of the games.
Soon after graduating from Peabody High School with the class of 1951, Sonya met the true guy of her dreams – a fine U.S. Army man named Paul Nazaruk. Sonya and Paul first met at a church conference in Cromwell, CT. Upon meeting, Paul threw Sonya into the lake just to get her attention. Needless to say, it worked! Not only did Sonya fall in the lake, she fell in love that day too! A short time later, they re-united at a wedding and started going steady. Sonya and Paul wed on Sunday, May 17, 1953 at the Calvary Baptist Church in Peabody, MA.
After Paul's time in the army in Kentucky, the couple settled in Caldwell, NJ where they raised their family.
Sonya was a loving and dedicated mom for her and Paul’s two children, Michael and Paula. She balanced her responsibilities of being a great mom and working as a secretary and an office manager at several companies in NJ. In 1983, they moved to the Packanack Lake section of Wayne.
Sonya treasured her time spent at the Jersey Shore and the whole family enjoys great memories of renting a house every summer in Lavallette.
She also enjoyed lovingly tending to her flowers and growing vegetables, doing cross word puzzles published in the New York Times, and reading books of all genres. Sonya developed a love of knitting, especially nice warm snuggly scarves and hats and over the course of time she knit literally hundreds which she happily gave to her children, grandchildren, friends, and donated many to needy causes.
After retirement, Sonya and Paul enjoyed many trips. Among some of their favorites were trips to Hawaii with their children and grandchildren, a trip to the Canadian Rockies and a wonderful cruise to the Baltic states.
Sonya derived her greatest joy when she could be with her three grandchildren. She and Paul looked forward to spending time with Lily, their first grandchild, almost every weekend at their house in Packanack. When Aidan and Jared came along, Sonya and Paul were all too happy to host them on weekends too. They would pick them up from school on Friday afternoon and do all sorts of fun stuff with them, like take them to Farms View on Black Oak Ridge Road to see the chickens, or to Wendy’s Restaurant where they would see “Mr. Ralph” the greeter, or just letting them swim in their pool in the backyard in Packanack Lake. Everyone was a winner when Nana and Papa had the grandkids for the weekend! She was extremely proud of her grandchildren.
Sonya will always be remembered as a kind and loving woman who was greatly loved by her family and friends. She loved her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and kept Him first in her life. We are comforted by the knowledge that she now rests in His loving arms.
Sonya was the beloved wife of Paul who predeceased her in 2008; loving mother of Michael and wife Karin Nazaruk of Boca Raton, FL, and Paula and husband Joseph Vaccarella of Montville; cherished grandmother of Lily Nazaruk and her fiance Justin Mackler, and Aidan and Jared Vaccarella; dear sister of Peter and wife Salme Kushkowski of Connecticut, Olga and husband Dim Werenko of Texas, and John Kushkowski and companion Marion O'Brien of Massachusetts; and dear aunt of many nieces and nephews.
If you would like to send a private condolence directly to the family use this condolence section.
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Wednesday, November 11, 2015 from 4-8 PM.
Funeral Services will be held at 10:00 AM on Thursday, November 12 at the Packanack Community Church, 120 Lake Drive East, Wayne. Please meet directly at the church.
Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Wednesday, November 11, 2015 from 4-8 PM.
Funeral Services will be held at 10:00 AM on Thursday, November 12 at the Packanack Community Church, 120 Lake Drive East, Wayne. Please meet directly at the church.
Sonya Nazaruk, age 81 of Wanaque, and formerly of the Packanack Lake section of Wayne and Caldwell, passed away peacefully on Saturday, November 7, 2015.
Sonya was born and raised in Peabody, MA, the oldest of four children born to James and Marion Kushkowski.
Sonya had fond memories of growing up in Peabody with her family and cousins and was active in the church from a young age. She spent many winter days skating on the pond near her house with friends. As a young woman, Sonya was an avid Boston Red Sox fan and enjoyed going to Fenway with her girlfriends. One of her favorite memories was meeting Mickey Mantle in a local restaurant after one of the games.
Soon after graduating from Peabody High School with the class of 1951, Sonya met the true guy of her dreams – a fine U.S. Army man named Paul Nazaruk. Sonya and Paul first met at a church conference in Cromwell, CT. Upon meeting, Paul threw Sonya into the lake just to get her attention. Needless to say, it worked! Not only did Sonya fall in the lake, she fell in love that day too! A short time later, they re-united at a wedding and started going steady. Sonya and Paul wed on Sunday, May 17, 1953 at the Calvary Baptist Church in Peabody, MA.
After Paul's time in the army in Kentucky, the couple settled in Caldwell, NJ where they raised their family.
Sonya was a loving and dedicated mom for her and Paul’s two children, Michael and Paula. She balanced her responsibilities of being a great mom and working as a secretary and an office manager at several companies in NJ. In 1983, they moved to the Packanack Lake section of Wayne.
Sonya treasured her time spent at the Jersey Shore and the whole family enjoys great memories of renting a house every summer in Lavallette.
She also enjoyed lovingly tending to her flowers and growing vegetables, doing cross word puzzles published in the New York Times, and reading books of all genres. Sonya developed a love of knitting, especially nice warm snuggly scarves and hats and over the course of time she knit literally hundreds which she happily gave to her children, grandchildren, friends, and donated many to needy causes.
After retirement, Sonya and Paul enjoyed many trips. Among some of their favorites were trips to Hawaii with their children and grandchildren, a trip to the Canadian Rockies and a wonderful cruise to the Baltic states.
Sonya derived her greatest joy when she could be with her three grandchildren. She and Paul looked forward to spending time with Lily, their first grandchild, almost every weekend at their house in Packanack. When Aidan and Jared came along, Sonya and Paul were all too happy to host them on weekends too. They would pick them up from school on Friday afternoon and do all sorts of fun stuff with them, like take them to Farms View on Black Oak Ridge Road to see the chickens, or to Wendy’s Restaurant where they would see “Mr. Ralph” the greeter, or just letting them swim in their pool in the backyard in Packanack Lake. Everyone was a winner when Nana and Papa had the grandkids for the weekend! She was extremely proud of her grandchildren.
Sonya will always be remembered as a kind and loving woman who was greatly loved by her family and friends. She loved her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and kept Him first in her life. We are comforted by the knowledge that she now rests in His loving arms.
Sonya was the beloved wife of Paul who predeceased her in 2008; loving mother of Michael and wife Karin Nazaruk of Boca Raton, FL, and Paula and husband Joseph Vaccarella of Montville; cherished grandmother of Lily Nazaruk and her fiance Justin Mackler, and Aidan and Jared Vaccarella; dear sister of Peter and wife Salme Kushkowski of Connecticut, Olga and husband Dim Werenko of Texas, and John Kushkowski and companion Marion O'Brien of Massachusetts; and dear aunt of many nieces and nephews.
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