Obituary: Edith S. Fitzgerald, 1920‑2021 

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• Courtesy Photo
• Edie Fitzgerald

Edith (“Edie”) S. Fitzgerald, 100, passed peacefully on January 12, 2021, at Hackensack Meridian Nursing & Rehabilitation in Shrewsbury, N.J. Daughter of the late Karl George Schneider and Emma Doell, Edie was born in Newark, N.J., and relocated to Glen Ridge, N.J., at the age of 6. She was a graduate of Glen Ridge High School’s class of ’38, where she was a cheerleading captain known for being affable, fun-loving and curious for adventure. Edie treasured — and throughout her life shared tales of — her early memories of summers at Green Pond, N.J., with her many cousins.

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• Edie with Santa circa 1924

Her love of water is what drew her to the shore. In the early ’50s, she moved to Fair Haven, N.J., and eventually settled in Red Bank, N.J., in the late ’60s. Here she had brief stints in town at the Monmouth Yarn Shop and Town Trimmings (a fabric shop), both formerly on Monmouth Street. Shortly thereafter, she began her career as a dental receptionist at the practice of Dr. Martin Caine Jr. in Red Bank, where she continued to work until nearly 80. Edie enjoyed cross-stitching, knitting and delving into a novel or the day’s news with a front-row seat in the sun. She loved big-band music, with drummer Gene Krupa and crooner Frank Sinatra as her favorites. She found peace and comfort in the presence of animals and nature.

Edie was known in town for her preferred mode of transportation — she walked most everywhere she needed to be until her early nineties. When she finally gave in to using a walker, her fellow residents nicknamed her “Speedy Edie” because she was always on a fast mission.

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• Courtesy Photo
• Edie and granddaughter Meaghan

Edith will be remembered as a devoted mother, grandmother and aunt with an infectious laugh and an unrelenting zest for life. There was no situation in which Edie couldn’t find some good-natured humor and a reason to be smiling.

Edith was predeceased by her sisters Ann Nungesser and Dorothy Taylor and her brother Paul Schneider. Survivors include her daughter Paula Wolff of Rockville, Md.; granddaughter, Meaghan Wolff of Washington, D.C.; nephew Stephen Schneider of Concord, N.H.; niece Cynthia Schneider of Burlington, Vt.; niece Barbara Lipka of Cedars, Pa.; and her dearest friend, Catherine Roe, of Red Bank, N.J.

Donations in her memory can be made to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society: National MS Society, P.O. Box 91891, Washington, D.C., 20090-1891.

Services will be private.