Elayne Ruth Charney

Born June 4, 1935 in the Bronx, New York, to Hannah Goodstein (nee Karp) and Louis Emanuel Goodstein, Lyn moved with her parents first to Elmhurst, New York at age 4 and then to Bloomfield, New Jersey at age 7. There she graduated from Bloomfield High School and attended Newark Teachers College. Lyn and her family were active in the Bloomfield Jewish Community, as her father had been the president of Temple Bnai Zion.

While living in Bloomfield she met the love or her life, her husband of 67 years, Marvin Allen Charney, and they remained happily married in a close and caring relationship through her passing. After marrying in 1955, she and Marv first lived together in Orange and later Bloomfield, where Lyn worked as a secretary.

In Bloomfield they welcomed their two children, first a son Steven Mitchell Charney and 3 years later their daughter Debra Sharon Weitzman (nee Charney). Shortly after Debbie’s birth, Lyn and Marv moved the family to Livingston where they both lived in the same home for over 60 years. Family was always a driving of force throughout Lyn’s life. A devoted daughter, wife and mother, Lyn ensured that her parents remained a rich presence. That tradition extended to the next generation as both of her children and their spouses chose to raise their families nearby in Livingston as well.

Lyn cared for the family and their home as she and Marv raised Debbie and Steve, Marv working as a Financial Controller, now retired. Lyn also engaged in her community, serving on the Board and as Treasurer of both the Women’s Club of Temple Emanuel of Livingston and the National Council of Jewish Women, and volunteering with the Livingston National Little League Women’s’ Auxiliary and the Harrison School PTA where she would regularly work in the library.

As Debbie and Steve began their university studies, Lyn chose to embark on a professional career. Initially, she took a part time position as a bookkeeper with an accountant near her home in Livingston. Lyn’s innate intelligence and trustworthiness were readily evident. In her friendly and calm way, invariably with a dose of humor, she assumed greater responsibilities and a career in accounting grew. Lyn later took a full-time position and was promoted to the role of Accounting Manager at the prestigious law firm Grotta, Glassman and Hoffman, in Roseland, where she worked for 15 years until her retirement.

Over the past few decades, Lyn often spoke of the joy she and Marv experienced as their family welcomed Debbie and Steve’s spouses and five grandchildren, all raised in the same town, Livingston. Daughter Debbie married Kenneth Weitzman, and son Steve married Cynthia Charney (nee Sharnak).

Lyn’s first two Grandchildren came in 1994. Karli Hannah Weitzman was her first grandchild and two months later Ross Harrison Charney was born. Eric Louis Weitzman, Cole Isaac Charney, and Todd Michael Weitzman followed within a few years.

The greatest passion in Lyn’s life was the love of her family, none more than her five grandchildren, and all maintained a strong connection. Lyn and Marv enjoyed a long and close partnership in their Livingston home. All who knew Lyn and Debbie recognized that their relationship was not sufficiently described as a mother and daughter, they were also the closest of friends.

Lyn was richly engaged in the lives of her adoring grandchildren, from sidelines and bench seats at sporting events to the near daily calls and text messages that continued through her final days. She was enormously proud of her five grandchildren, who all speak of Lyn’s vibrancy, warm personality, ever present a sense of humor, and genuine interest in and recollection of the smallest details in their lives. Just recently Lyn enjoyed the thrill of Karli’s engagement to wed Tony Westman and sharing in the creation of the engagement ring.

Together with Marv, Lyn took great care in supporting Debbie and Steve’s growth into adulthood and in fostering family and religious traditions. Beyond ensuring that their two children both attended good schools and earned college degrees, Lyn and Marv remained a constant rock of support and guidance for their children and grandchildren, including from her hospital bed.

Lyn was the first in the family to start a career with a law firm and she took pride in how others in her family successfully entered the practice of law. Her son in law Ken became a respected lawyer, who, after partnership at one of the country’s most prestigious intellectual properties law firms, founded his own law firm in Roseland, Weitzman Law Offices. Son Steve also became a recognized lawyer who serves as Chair of Peckar & Abramson, the nation’s leading construction law firm, and an adjunct professor at Columbia University.

During her retirement Lyn took great pleasure in her regular exercise at a local gym. Her time at the gym is an ideal window into Lyn’s personality. Lyn may not have been the type to make new acquaintances instantly, but over time she came to know everyone on a richer level, and everyone came to know Lyn. Her warm and friendly demeanor, genuine care for those entering her life, love of conversation, ability to engage in a wide range of topics, and sense of humor that never failed, formed new and deeper friendships.

An avid reader, Lyn was naturally drawn to most anything that could be fun, humorous, interesting, or taste good. Her joy when experiencing a gathering with family or friends, having a glass of wine (any wine!), and her smile, laugh, and humor, was contagious and will live on among all who were close to her.

Lyn is survived by her husband Marv, daughter Debbie, son-in-law Ken, son Steve, daughter-in-law Cindy, and five grandchildren, Karli, Ross, Eric, Cole and Todd.

In lieu of flowers the family asks that those so inclined consider a donation to the American Heart Association, www.heart.org.

A Graveside service will be held at Riverside Cemetery, 12 Market Street, Saddlebrook, New Jersey, at 2PM on Sunday April 16, 2023.

The family will sit shiva at the home of Steven and Cindy Charney at the following times:

Sunday April 16 following the burial service to 8:00PM.

Monday April 17 from 2PM to 4:30PM and from 6:30PM to 9:00PM.

The family asks that those considering joining the family during shiva recognize that vulnerable individuals will be present, and that discretion should be exercised to avoid attending if experiencing covid, flu or other similar symptoms.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.bernheimapterkreitzman.com for the Charney family.