Rosemary Den Bleyker of Vernon passed away on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023, at Morristown Medical Center. She was 86.
Born in Jersey City to the late Charles R. and Margaret A. (Fincken) Mathews, Rosemary grew up in Lyndhurst, where she graduated high school and spent her summers in the Lake Wallkill section of Vernon.
Before having her four children, she worked at Bell Telephone Co. and McGraw Hill Book Co. in New York City.
Rosemary moved to the Lake Wallkill section of Vernon in 1972 with her family and had been serving as a trustee of the Lake Wallkill Board and was a former district representative.
She was a member of St. Francis de Sales R.C. Church in Vernon and volunteered at the Wallkill Wildlife Refuge.
Rosemary was employed at Westwind Manor in Franklin.
Besides her parents, Rosemary was predeceased by her husband of 59 years, Leonard R. Den Bleyker on Nov. 21, 2018.
She is survived by her sons, Robert Den Bleyker and his wife Lisa of Lake Shawnee and Matthew Den Bleyker and his wife Michelle of Sun City, Ariz.; her daughters, Karen Shaw and her husband Bill of Oak Ridge and Janet Centrone and her husband Andrew of Harrisburg, Pa.; her brother, Robert Mathews and his wife Linda of Fairfield Glade, Tenn.; her grandchildren, Katelyn Shaw, Timothy and Kevin Den Bleyker, Nicholas and Jack Centrone, and Matthew and Mason Den Bleyker; and her beloved dog, Beau.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 4 at St. Francis de Sales R.C. Church, 614 County Road 517, Vernon. Interment to immediately follow at Clove Cemetery in Wantage.
Friends may pay their respects to the family on Friday, Nov. 3 from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at the Pinkel Funeral Home, 31 Bank St. (Route 23), Sussex.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations may be offered in Rosemary’s memory to Father John’s Animal House, 50 Father John’s Lane, Lafayette, NJ 07848.
Online condolences may be offered to the family at www.pinkelfuneralhome.com