Jody was born on September 19, 1958, in Plainfield, New Jersey. She grew up sharing a house with four sisters (which made for countless entertaining stories), and her parents Anne and Arthur Luley. Jody was an alumna of North Plainfield High School’s class of 1976. She completed the Taylor Business Institute’s Executive Secretarial Program in 1977 and started her career as a Legal Secretary in Bridgewater, New Jersey.
Jody had a daughter and son she fondly called Britt and Gil, who she enjoyed heckling even more than she did her sisters growing up. She often joked that when Britt grew up, she’d have to argue with herself in the mirror because she’d miss her mother so much and wouldn’t have anyone to argue with! She spent the last eight years of her life as a retiree in Rotonda, a community in Southwest Florida, where she lived close to her mother, sister, uncle, cousins, and made many new friends.
Jody was a vibrant and lively person. She was the life of any party; her loud, boisterous laughter filled rooms and warmed hearts. She loved people, and everyone who met her liked her immediately. She befriended people without judgment and reached out to strangers in kindness everywhere she went. Literally everywhere. Sometimes this could be embarrassing for her children, but she was proud and loved showing them off to her friends.
Jody was incredibly creative and an amazing decorator. She had a natural talent for color, design, and fashion, and she DIY’ed everything before it was cool - from her children’s homemade Halloween costumes, to home decor, curtains, flower arrangements, crafts, and more. She was great at cooking Italian food (except when she burned the garlic bread...) and arranged enticing platters. Jody was always a gracious host; her son remembers looking forward to house parties as a young boy and the “visitor cheese” platters that would accompany them.
She loved visiting out West, where she enjoyed the dry heat, fashion, scenery, and Native American jewelry. One of her favorite holidays was Halloween and she loved to watch sci-fi / horror movies (especially the cheesy ones). She also loved Brad Pitt: for a number of years her voicemail greeting would inform callers that they had reached Jody Mason-Pitt. Even for Brad she wouldn’t have given up her own name! Her favorite musician was Eric Clapton and his melodies were often heard playing loudly throughout her home.
Jody also loved animals dearly and adopted a number of pets over the years. Two of her favorites, Mink DeVille, the Siamese Cat, and Eddie Spaghetti, the Jack Russell terrier, were among the first that would have been waiting for her after her passing.
More recently, she fell in love with being a grandma, and couldn’t get enough of her grandson Caven. She loved sending gifts to her “Sweet Babou” and cherished every opportunity she had to see him.
Jody leaves behind her mother, Anne Luley; her 4 sisters, Debbie Oliver, Toni Muth, Jodie Roberts (Dan Roberts), and Sue Bohannan; her daughter, Brittney Anne Day (Neal Day); her son Jonathan Gilmore Mason-Butch (Caitlin McElroy); her grandson, Caven Maybin Day; and many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews.
She is predeceased by her father, Arthur Luley.
A memorial service will take place at a later date and location to be determined, in the New Jersey area.
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