Jennifer Lee Haskins

Jen lived her life one way and that was full speed ahead. She loved being with her family, gardening, and complaining about how much work taking care of the dog and cats was, though she loved and enjoyed them a lot. She was a fixture on Hillsdale Avenue walking her Yellow Lab Watson from home to work and back.

For the past eighteen years Jen owned and managed the Bergen County Garden Center in Hillsdale with her husband. From 2006-2016 she was the founder and race director of the Hillsdale Rover and Clover 5K Charity Run. She was very proud of the money she raised for the Hillsdale Schools and the college scholarships for PV seniors that the charity funded.

Jen grew up in Cliffside Park but lived most of her life in Hillsdale. Jen is survived by her husband of 32 years Arthur, her daughter Katie, her son Brian and his wife Laura, and two grandchildren Dominic and Olivia. She is also survived by three older brothers Jerry, Greg, and Jonathan Lake.

In 2015 the family took a summer trip to Ireland to run in the Dublin Half Marathon. The Dublin race is one that has a time limit and runners need to reach a certain mile point by a certain time or are asked to get on a bus to be taken to the finish line. She was aware of this and trained hard to exceed that pace. She made the cutoff by a few minutes but the bus driver asked her anyway if she wanted a ride to the finish line. Her reply was, “I didn’t come this bleeping far to give up now!” That sums up Jen’s entire life. She never backed away from a challenge or quit at anything.

Jen’s favorite place was her home and her garden. The family will receive friends and family there, outside on the side yard by her gardens at 6 Windham Road in Hillsdale on Wednesday afternoon October 28th from 2-6, with a brief memorial service at 4 pm.

Jen loved flowers so if you’d like to send some please do. If not, do a random act of kindness in her memory. The world needs more kindness. --