Obituary of Donna C Heiss

On Monday, November 16th, my mother Donna C. Heiss, passed away suddenly at St. Claire's Hospital in Denville, NJ, from heart failure. She was 77 at the time of her passing, and was surrounded by her husband Ralph Trowbridge Heiss and her son Ralph Addison Heiss during her final moments. She passed peacefully at 11:30AM. While she had suffered for years from various ailments limiting her from all but getting around and out of her home she shared with her husband of 55 years, she was alert and fully conversant up to the day before her passing. My mother, Donna Claire Boob was born at home on August 26th, 1938 in the Mt. View section of Wayne Twp. to Sarah Jeanette (Drew) and Charles Leroy Boob. Curiously enough, the wife of her future husband's best friend was also born on the same day, in the same town, by the same doctor, though they would not know this for another 30 some-odd years. Upon graduation from Passaic Valley High School in 1956, she worked for New Jersey Bell Telephone at multiple central office locations like Paterson, NJ and Pompton Lakes, NJ in various customer service positions. In early 1960, she met my father at a party, and within months, the two were engaged and married in Little Falls, NJ in November of 1960. Both Ralph and Donna were involved in helping manage a NJ Bell Credit Union after their marriage, and then again in the 1980's after the birth of their son Ralph Addison Heiss in November of 1969. What I will always remember most about my mother is that even for all her idiosyncrasies, she was an honest and loving person who took care of her family even when it meant inconvenience for her. My only wish is that I could tell her one more time how much she meant to me and thank her for everything she did for my father and I. I'd like to think she always knew that without me having to say it, though. What she gave my father and I is the best gift anyone can ever give and receive - Unconditional love. On November 18th, myself alongside my father and my loving girlfriend of 21 years Kathleen McMahon, said goodbye to my mother one last time in a private gathering surrounded by our immediate family and friends here in New Jersey - Her sister Doris (Boob) Dicristina and her wife Sheila Dynan of Parsippany, NJ, and her sister Sharon (Boob) Ament and her husband Ed, and their daughters Caitlin and Samantha of Little Falls, NJ. Also in attendance to pay respects was family friend William Reilly of Parsippany, NJ. My father and I can't thank them enough for their love and support at this most difficult time in our lives. As we were not a religious family, and chose to have her cremated, my father and I have decided to, in lieu of a formal memorial service, to instead have an Irish-style wake sometime in December to allow others to celebrate her life in an informal yet fun and loving way, the way we think she would like to be remembered. I can be reached at cnjlv@yahoo.com if you wish to be updated on those developments. In place of flowers, I ask to please instead hold her in your memories however you choose to, and to remember to always say "I love you" to those you love.