Jean Lois Masciola

Jean Lois Masciola, age 89 years, of Flemington, NJ, died peacefully on Sunday, May 12, 2024, at Country Arch Care Center, Union Township, Hunterdon County, NJ.

Born prematurely on her grandparents’ farm in Lopez, PA, after her mother took a bumpy ride on the back of her nephew’s motorcycle on September 3, 1934,  Jean grew up on Boylan Street in the Vailsburg section of Newark. In addition to Newark, she had lived in Colonia, Fords and Edison, NJ, where she began raising a family. In 1980, Jean finally settled on Larsen Road in East Amwell Township where she made many happy memories. Her final years were spent at the Herman Kapp Residences in Flemington.

During her younger years, Jean spent her summers on the family farm with her grandparents, sister, and cousins.  Her days were happy ones, playing with the chickens, teasing the bull, and milking her favorite cow, Daisy.  She simply loved being on the farm.

School was not her forte, and at sixteen she asked her mother if she could drop out and get a full-time job; she had already been working part-time at a local bakery from an early age. Begrudgingly, her mother agreed after the high school principal assured her “not to worry, she’ll be back in two weeks.” Well, nothing could have been farther from the truth. Jean got a job in a bank in downtown Newark and never looked back. She would take the bus every day to Broad & Market Streets and then back home.  She even “took the tubes” as she called them into New York City once for her job (yes, at 16 years old!). She spent the day wandering around and taking in the sites, worrying her boss and co-workers immensely. Needless to say, she was not asked to go back into New York City again.

Jean was mature for her age so when a neighbor boy, Richard, who was a year and a half younger than her and still in high school, asked her out she was quick to say no. Come back when you are older, she would say, and he did, repeatedly. Eventually, she would say yes and as they say, the rest was history. Jean and Richard were married on October 6, 1956, at Sacred Heart Church in Newark; they remained married for 54 years until Richard’s death in 2011.

Jean loved Larsen Road and the friends she made there; many of whom she was still in contact with today. She loved the open land and tending to all the greenery on the property. She also was an avid reader, particularly later in life where she could tackle two to three books a week. One of Jean’s favorite spots was her back porch where she would spend many hours enjoying an iced tea or cup of coffee and watching her daughter ride her horse and take riding lessons – cringing every time the height of the jumps were raised.

Jean was always up for an adventure and could be seen riding up and down the road on the back of her daughter’s Honda 50 motorbike – like mother like daughter. She even helped deliver a colt at the farm next door. Neighbors were always dragging her into some sort of adventure. Larsen Road was her most favorite place on earth.

Surviving are her daughter, Michelle Masciola; her sister, Patricia Wolfe; her sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Janet and Michael Eber; her nieces and nephews, Bridget VonLinden, Dennis VonLinden, Paul Severini, Priscilla Severini, Amanda Huffman, and Marc Huffman; several extended family members; and many dear friends.

Life celebration services are private under the care and direction of Wright & Ford Family Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 38 State Highway 31, Flemington, NJ.

Cremation was also private under the care and supervision of the Wright & Ford Licensed Care Team.

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

Memorial contributions in her honor and memory may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, via mail to 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN, 38105, or online by clicking HERE.

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

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