Anna (Sokolowski) Mantell departed this life on November 8, 2024, following a courageous battle with cancer. During her time among us, Anna lived a life punctuated by service and passion.

Born December 22, 1964, in Smithtown, NY, Anna was adopted at 6 months by her parents Wallace and Lyda Sokolowski in Towaco, NJ. After moving to Warren where she spent her formative years, Anna found a passion for singing, which manifested itself in performances on both the Middle School and High School stages.

Singing in high school chorus concerts, she often stood at the top center of the risers next to her future husband Peter Mantell. In the middle of performances, the two of them would whisper wisecracks at each other trying to break the other one into laughter. Anna was much better at achieving this than Peter, which should come as no surprise as Anna was gifted with an unusually sharp wit that often came out when it was least expected.

Anna’s passion for singing was lifelong. In whatever ways she could, she loved singing with others in church choirs, praise bands, or with 30,000 of her closest friends at a Billy Joel concert. She had an amazing talent that enabled her to harmonize and help bring out the voices of others.

One of her deepest passions was as a Massage Therapist. Receiving training in both New Jersey and Florida, Anna became a Licensed Massage Therapist, a role she loved with all her heart to her final days. She chose to be selective in who she received as patients, in order that she may give them the best possible care and not treat them simply as a number. She was masterful at working with lymphatic drain massage, sports massage, helping patients improve their range of motion, and more. As a massage therapist, she was intuitive to her patients’ bodies and could often assist them in understanding the deeper truths behind one symptom or another.

In as many ways as possible, Anna turned her passion for massage therapy into service for others. She set herself up at various marathons to help runners settle into their post-run. Her most special memory was during a mission trip to India, Anna massaged orphaned children who had presumably never received a human touch. Her healing hands enabled atrophied children, who rarely felt another human’s touch, to stretch their unused limbs and be engaged within their own impoverished communities.

Another passion of Anna’s was found in the kitchen. Her favorite one-line introduction of herself was, “I’m most comfortable with a knife in my hands!” Entirely self-taught, she used her passion for cooking to serve tens of thousands through various church ministries. Whether in church kitchens, or catering parties or family events, Anna’s kitchen skills were unmatched. She became a fixture at church events. Whether coordinating meals for a few, dozens or hundreds, Anna could handle it all with ease, leading others and teaching them best practices in the kitchen.

As an adoptee, Anna believed it was her calling to become a foster parent, which she and Peter did in 1998. Over a short three-year period, the couple fostered between 20-25 children, some for many months, some for just a few days, and one in particular for a lifetime of absolute joy! Every foster child in their home received Anna’s passion and her unstoppable determination that they would always have the best possible care, whether that meant frequent doctor visits, making phone calls to social workers, or speaking in court to advocate for the children.

As her children grew, Anna found a new passion for soccer (Futbal). Not content to simply watch from the sidelines, Anna earned her coach’s license. Although she could coach any age group, her preference was the young 5 or 6 years olds getting their first experience on the soccer pitch. Anna expertly used her skills as a coach to teach her charges to love soccer, while simultaneously teaching their parents to understand the difference between Futbal and football.

Anna’s greatest passion was her family. She leaves behind her husband of 37 years, Peter Mantell and their three children Max (Kenneth) Henderson in Emmaus, PA, Nicole (Charles) Hopkins in Philadelphia, PA, and Jackie Mantell in Manville, NJ, along with her three favorite human beings of all time, her three grandchildren, Emmett Kelly Henderson, Joshua Charles Hopkins, and Riley Josephine Hopkins. It is impossible to measure the number of ways Anna served and loved them all.

Family and friends will gather on Friday, November 15, 2024, from 4:00-7:00 p.m. in the Chapel of Wright & Ford Family Funeral Home, 38 State Highway 31, Flemington, NJ.

There will also be be a period of gathering on Saturday, November 16, 2024, from 10:00-11:00 a.m. at Christ United Methodist Church, 485 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ.

A Service of Remembrance will follow the gathering on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. at the church and to which all are welcome.

The family will gather after the service in the fellowship hall for a time of refreshments and fellowship.

For those who are unable to attend in person, the Service of remembrance will be live-streamed with the stream being active on Saturday beginning at 10:30 a.m. 

Interment was private.

You are encouraged to visit Anna’s permanent life celebration site at www.wrightfamily.com to light a candle of hope, leave messages of condolence, share words of comfort and recollection, and post photographs of her life.

In Anna’s memory, find what you’re passionate about, and use that passion to serve others, making the world around you more kind and loving, for that truly is Anna’s legacy.

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Wright & Ford, your local, family owned & operated “Life Celebration Home”

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