Stephen Y. Blauvelt Jr.

Stephen Y. Blauvelt, Jr., 106, of Wall Township, NJ, passed away peacefully at the Ardie R. Copas Veterans’ Nursing Home in Port St. Lucie, FL on Thursday, June 6, 2024, on the 80th anniversary of D-Day. A member of the Greatest Generation, he was born on May 23, 1918, in Jersey City, NJ to Stephen and Ada (Hill) Blauvelt.

Stephen was the middle child between two sisters, Elizabeth (Horace) and Doris (O’Neill), and was raised during the Great Depression in Shark River Hills, NJ. There, he worked as a delivery boy for the United Grocer’s Store, later called the Cracker Barrel. He graduated from Neptune High School in 1936 where he lettered in Track and Field and Football. After high school, Stephen traveled up and down the East Coast, working for General Motors during the summers and caddying at Florida golf courses during the winters.

In 1940, during World War II, he enlisted in the United States Coast Guard as an Apprentice Seaman and initially served as a cook. During his service, he completed training at the Naval Air Training Center at Pensacola, FL and became a Coast Guard Aviation Pilot. His tour of duty took him to the Pacific Islands. He was Honorably Discharged in 1946 as an Aviation Pilot 1st Class (AP1c), receiving an American Defense Ribbon, an American Theatre Ribbon, an Asiatic-Pacific Theatre Ribbon, a World War II Victory Medal, and a Coast Guard Good Conduct Medal. He claimed he was the only cook in the Coast Guard to fly airplanes.

After his service, he moved to Queens, NY where he worked during the day as a furniture mover and used his GI Bill to attend Columbia University at night. Stephen graduated in 1950 with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering. While attending Columbia, he met the love of his life and wife-to-be Grace (Tedeschi). Soon after, they married in 1951 and moved to Wall Township in 1955, where they raised their two children, Stephen III and Grace (Ferriter), and resided for over 60 years. He played an active role in the community of Wall Township, where he served as a Committeeman, helping to expand the Wall Township Police Department and found the Wall Township Library, serving on the Board of Trustees. Stephen worked for Chevron as a chemical lubricant salesman until his retirement in 1983. He loved his job, which gave him the opportunity to attend many golf outings. Stephen was known to quote the phrase “find a job you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.”

Following his retirement, he purchased a winter home in Hutchinson Island, FL, where he wintered with his wife, Grace, until 2015. Stephen was an avid golfer and frequented the Pine Lakes Golf Club, now known as The Shores at North River Golf Club. Stephen also spent his post-retirement years traveling the world with Grace and spending time with his grandchildren.

Stephen was intelligent, family-oriented, and extremely generous. He helped so many family members and loved ones. Stephen will be remembered for his incredible health, sharp wit, dry sense of humor, and his love of golf. He was doing squats until 102 and playing golf until 105. He attributed his long life to clean living: eating a moderate diet, never smoking, not drinking too much alcohol, doing daily exercises, and always saying “Yes, dear.”

Stephen is predeceased by his parents, Stephen and Ada Blauvelt, his sisters Elizabeth Horace and Doris O’Neill, and his wife Grace Tedeschi Blauvelt. He is survived by: his children, Stephen Blauvelt III and his fiancé Deanna Driscoll, and Grace Ferriter; his 5 grandchildren, Robert Ferriter and his wife Esther Kim, Ashley Blauvelt Restaino and her husband Alan, Ryan Ferriter and his wife Sarah, Amanda Blauvelt and her husband Timothy Johnson, and Stephen Ferriter and his wife Rory; his 5 great-grandchildren, Lily Restaino, Mia and Pierce Ferriter, Oliver Johnson, and Hailey Ferriter and many loving nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Visitation will be held on Friday, June 14th from 3:00pm to 7:00pm and a Catholic prayer service will be held on Saturday, June 15th at 10:00am at Aycock Funeral Home in Jensen Beach, FL. Aycock Funeral Home will be managing arrangements. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Stephen’s name to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation at https://dogood.t2t.org/IMOStephenBlauvelt or the Wall Township Library at 2700 Allaire Road, Wall, NJ 07719.