Dolores J. Ziola, 94, of Lincroft, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, April 8.

Dolores was born in Hazelton, Pennsylvania. Her family moved to South Amboy, where she was raised and  graduated from Harold G. Hoffman High School. Dolores married and began her family in South Amboy. She then moved to Woodbridge, before settling in Lincroft in 1965 in the home she and her husband Paul had custom built. She lived there for the remainder of her life.  Dolores was the bookkeeper and accountant for 2 family businesses, P&J Auto Service in Fords, and Epic Collision in Little Silver, where she worked for over 40 years before retiring.

Dolores was active in Several Civic and Community Services including the Middletown Township Senior Citizens Housing Board of Directors where she served as treasurer from 1983-1988; and was a charter member of the New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners as well as the New Jersey Business and Industry Association.  She also served on the Board of  Directors for the Rutgers-Cook College Parents’ Association, both as Acting President and Treasurer in the late 1970s.

Dolores loved to cook healthy meals, including the Polish classics, for her family and friends on every occasion.  She was an avid gardener, her home surrounded by a vibrant garden filled with an abundance of flowers, shrubs and majestic trees. Dolores had a flair for decorating and her home was filled with an array of antiques which she has collected throughout the years. She especially relished in hosting events at her home which was built adjacent to the 2nd tee at Bamn Hollow Golf Course in Lincroft. She loved animals, especially her two pet Yorkie’s “Max and Maggie” which she had rescued from an animal shelter.  She was a devout catholic and a parishioner of St. Catharine’s of Holmdel for many years. Dolores’ positivity and energetic smile lit up any room she walked into. Dolores touched the lives of many, always offering her kindness and love. But most of all, she loved spending treasured time with her three boys.

She is predeceased by her beloved parents Mary and Thomas Pepsny, her son Paul, and her brother Thomas Pepsny.

Dolores is survived by her two sons Thomas and his wife Kathryn Ziola of Monmouth Beach, and Gary Ziola of Long Branch, her brother Bob Pepsny, and many loving nieces and nephews.

The family would also like to extend their gratitude to the caregivers at Sunrise of Lincroft.

Visitation will be held on Thursday, April 16th from 5pm – 8pm at the Holmdel Funeral Home, 26 South Holmdel Road, Holmdel. A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered on Saturday, April 18th at 10am at the Church of the Precious Blood, 72 Riverdale Avenue, Monmouth Beach.

For messages of condolences, or to share a favorite memory of Dolores, please visit her page of tribute at www.holmdelfuneralhome.com.