Obituary of Alice Oelkers

Norman Dean Home for Services 16 Righter Avenue Denville, New Jersey 07834 (973) 627-1880 Star Ledger, web site—Yes, 1x Sunday October 21, 2012 Alice Gertrude Oelkers (nee McGarril), of Pinellas Park, Fla., passed away peacefully at home on October 17, 2012. She was 94 years old. Alice was born in Kearny, N.J., on July 30, 1918. She lived in Newark for 32 years before retiring to Florida with her husband, Emil “Bo” Oelkers. She was the daughter of the late James McGarril and Elizabeth Barry McGarril, and sister to Charles and James. Throughout her life, she was surrounded by a large and loving family—her parents and brothers; devoted aunts and uncles and cousins; and later by her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Alice was known for her intelligence and generosity, keen memory, and love of family. Well into her eighties, she quickly mastered the internet, playing Scrabble and making friends online. She was an avid reader, and when her eyes failed from macular degeneration, she turned to books on tape. She started her career as a bank teller and bookkeeper and later worked for many years at the First National State Bank on Mt. Prospect Ave. in Newark’s North Ward. Eventually promoted to the front desk, she was the bank’s go-to person for customers who had a problem. In retirement she volunteered as a tutor, at Sunday school, and at a hospice. She also did genealogical research and wrote a short history of her family’s origins in Ireland and their early life in America, called “Dozens of Cousins.” Alice is survived by her six children, Christine Venable (Peter), Barbara Kearnes (Craig Harris), Joanne Gerst (Peter), Robert, Mary Beth Oelkers-Keegan (Andrew), and Judith Caruana (Ron Sharo). She was predeceased by her husband, Emil, who died in 1995, and by her son-in-law, Bill Kearnes. She leaves nine grandchildren, Leonard Gerst (Sandra Muracchioli), Peter Gerst (Jenette Lopinto-Gerst), Michael Gerst (Trisha Monarque), David Kearnes, Jessica Venable Marshall (Daniel Marshall), William Kearnes, Alison Caruana, Rebecca Keegan, and Lauren Caruana, and seven great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her sister-in-law, Eleanor McGarril, and by her nieces, nephew, and cousins. Alice brought us all together and taught us what love and family was all about, and we will miss our “Ma” always. Alice’s funeral will be conducted from the Norman Dean Home for Services 16 Righter Ave., Denville, NJ www.normandean.com, (please light a candle in memory of Alice on website), on Saturday October 27th for a 10 am Mass of Christian Burial Service at St. Catherine of Siena Church, Mountain Lakes, NJ. Relatives and friends will be received on Friday October 26th at the funeral home from 2-4 and 7-9PM.