Lilyan Dorothy Gassaway, 82, of Colts Neck, passed away peacefully in her sleep Friday morning.
Lilyan was born and raised in Avenel, NJ, she graduated from Woodbridge High School in 1956 and began her career at Merck & Co. Lilyan married Robert Gassaway in Woodbridge in 1960. They lived in Woodbridge and Rahway and eventually settled in Colts Neck to raise their young family. She would leave Merck & Co. to work for her husband’s auto restoration business as a bookkeeper, in 1982 Lilyan started a new career that would last 35 years at Delicious Orchards where she would work her way to Manager/ Buyer.
Lilyan enjoyed spending time at the beach in Spring Lake, long car trips, was an ice cream enthusiast, an animal lover, and she loved spending time with her grandchildren.
Lilyan is predeceased by her parents Adolf Zieseniss and Lilyan Hofstetter, her half-sisters Cornelia Zieseniss and Marie Zieseniss Eberle, sister Julia “Judy” Zieseniss Curran and her brother-in-law Leonard Musser.
Lilyan is survived by her loving husband Robert J. Gassaway of Colts Neck; her children Ronald J. Gassaway and his wife Jean of Freehold, Maria L. Weldon and her husband Robert of Westfield, Linda J. Gassaway and her partner Shirley Jean Brown of Kentucky, and Debra A. White and her husband Mark of Hazlet; her sister Jane Zieseniss Musser of Pennsylvania, and her brother Adolf Zieseniss and his wife Carol of Florida; and her beloved grandchildren Evan, Ryan, Timothy, Sean, Sophia, Isabelle, Robert and Piper, and loving aunt to many nieces and nephews
Visitation will be Monday, April 5th from 3:00 PM-7:00PM at the Holmdel Funeral Home, 26 S. Holmdel Rd, Holmdel. A funeral liturgy will be held Tuesday, April 6th at 10:30 AM at the Colts Neck Reformed Church, 139 County Rd. 537, Colts Neck. Interment will follow at Atlantic Cemetery on the Church grounds.
Kindly note for the health and safety of all guests, current state and local health protocols of social distancing and the wearing of facemasks are being strictly enforced.
To leave a message of condolence or to share a favorite memory please visit Lilyan’s page at www.holmdelfuneralhome.com.