Gerard Menzel

Wantage - Gerard "Gerry" G. Menzel, age 88, passed away on Saturday, October 29, 2011 at Barn Hill Care Center in Newton. Born in Schlagel, Germany to the late Fritz and Maria Menzel, he came to the United States when he was six years old and was raised in Brooklyn, New York, graduating from Bushwick High School. Mr. Menzel had served in the United States Army during World War II and had served in a MASH unit in several US bases in Georgia and California. After marrying his wife, Marion in 1951, they lived in Richmond Hill, Queens, New York and had maintained a summer residence in the Lake Neepaulin section of Wantage since 1963 before moving there permanently after his retirement. Mr. Menzel had been employed as a Vice-President of Bank of America in Huntington, New York in the computer systems department and retired when he turned 65. He was a member of St. Monica R.C. Church in Sussex, past president of the Sussex Over 50 Club, the Wantage Seniors, past president of Sussex AARP, a member of the Sussex Elks Club, and the Friends of Lake Neepaulin (F.O.L.N.), where he was very active in the quest to improving their beach. Mr. Menzel was predeceased by his wife of 56 years, Marion on October 7, 2007. He is survived by his two daughters, Patricia Andrzejewski and her husband Edward of Las Vegas, Nevada and Christine Fitzpatrick and her husband William of Poughkeepsie, New York; his sister, Eleanor Trummer of Queens, New York; his granddaughter, Elizabeth Fitzpatrick; and several nieces and nephews. He was a very loving, generous, and well-liked man who had shown much devotion and compassion to his family and friends. Funeral services will be held at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, November 2, 2011 at the Pinkel Funeral Home, 31 Bank Street (Route 23), Sussex. Mass of Christian Burial will follow at 10 a.m. from St. Monica R.C. Church in Sussex. Interment Clove Cemetery. Friends may pay their respects to the family on Tuesday, November 1, 2011 from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m.. The family requests that memorial donations may be made to Compassionate Care Hospice, 532 Lafayette Road, Sparta, New Jersey 07871. Online condolences may be offered to the family on www.PinkelFuneralHome.net