Grace "Gina" G. Marchese

Grace (Gina) Marchese, of Tinton Falls passed away on March 29, 2023 at 95 years old. Born and raised in New York City, Gina graduated from Theodore Roosevelt High School and attended Queens College in New York. Gina met her future husband, Henry (Hank) Marchese, at a YWCA dance and they married in 1956. She and Hank resided in Valhalla NY, Silver Spring MD and Livingston NJ before moving to the Lake Ridge Active Adult Community in Toms River NJ.

In Livingston, she was President of the West Essex Chapter of the New Jersey State Opera Guild. In that capacity, she raised money for the opera company and sponsored many musical programs over a 15 year period. She was passionate about her love of opera and this was her way of sharing that with others. In Lake Ridge, she was the head of the Musical Interlude Committee which provided musical programs and even bus trips to opera performances. She was active in the Italian Culture Club, the Bridge Club, the Garden Club and she was also in a Memoir writing group for a number of years. Gina and her husband authored a dining article for the community newspaper for ten years.

Hank and Gina finally moved to the Seabrook Continuing Care Community in Tinton Falls NJ in 2019. She was a member of the Seabrook Catholic Community.

Gina was a devoted mother and wife and was always concerned about each member of the family. She was instrumental in bringing several family reunions to pass in different venues. She loved to cook and was a passionate gardener. She even wrote a 226 page memoir of her life and family that documented the journey of her life as a daughter of immigrants that included much love and affection for everyone in the family.

Gina was predeceased by her older brother Stephen Barbera and her sisters Josephine (Daisy) Cassidente, Angelina (Angie) Grippi, and Antoinette (Toni) Dudley.

Gina is survived by Hank, her loving husband of 66 years. Gina is also survived by four devoted children (Michael, Laura and husband Mike, Paula, Eric and wife Andrea) plus eight cherished grandchildren (Kristen and husband Jeffrey, Melissa and husband Derek, Nicole, Marko and wife Becca, Eric, Michaela, Gabriella and Siena). She is also survived by two beautiful great grandchildren (Andrew and Ryan).