Susan Brigida

Susan Brigida, age 65, of Wayne, passed Saturday, December 20, 2025.

She was born in Newark and has lived in Wayne for the past sixty years. Susan graduated from Wayne Valley High School with the Class of 1978.  

During her high school years she worked for her brother, James T. Voglino, DMD in Wayne. She soon pursued an education in cosmetology and esthetician at the Capri Institute in Clifton. Upon graduation she worked with her sister at the Beauty Doctor in Livingston. 

Susan met the love of her life, Gino Brigida, at Ashley’s in Clifton. Their first date was a return to Ashley’s just one week later, and they soon fell deeply in love. Gino quickly became part of Susan’s family, who welcomed him with open arms and grew to love him as their own.

Gino proposed to Susan at her home in Wayne after first asking her parents for their blessing. They were married on June 17, 1984, celebrated with a reception at The Manor in West Orange, and honeymooned in Acapulco. Susan and Gino lived with her parents for about six months before purchasing a home in the Pines Lake section of Wayne, where they built a life filled with love and devotion.

Their marriage was blessed with two children—a honeymoon baby, their daughter Gina, followed soon after by their son, Frank. Susan often fondly shared that she fell in love with Gino’s “sparkling green eyes,” a detail that perfectly captured the joy and romance of their life together.

Susan was a beacon of love and devotion, deeply rooted in her Catholic faith and her lifelong passion for caring for others. She radiated warmth and kindness, embracing everyone she met with the nurturing spirit of a mother. Her family was her world, and she poured her heart into making every meal a labor of love. Sunday pasta with homemade meatballs became a cherished family tradition, symbolizing her deep commitment to togetherness.

Susan’s culinary talents shone especially bright in her homemade soups, which she lovingly prepared. With her door always open, she welcomed everyone into her home, embodying true selflessness and compassion. Her children, Frank and Gina, along with her beloved grandchildren and extended family, were the center of her universe. She would have put a tracker on each family member if they let her. Susan also found joy in life’s simple pleasures, often taking peaceful walks around her beloved Pines Lake, where she cherished the beauty and calm of nature.

Susan was the loving wife of over forty years to Gino Brigida; devoted mother of Gina Rose and her husband Guy of Wayne and Frank Brigida and his wife Jenna of Wayne; cherished grandmother of Luca, Vienna, and Dante Rose and Giovanni, Lorenzo, and Leonardo Brigida; loved sister of James Voglino and his wife Barbara of Wayne, Phyllis Velardi of Livingston, Carol Maglio (Susan’s twin sister) of Totowa, and the late Dolores Pacelli (d. 2023). 

In lieu of flowers memorial donations to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society would be greatly appreciated.