Lisa D. McComsey

October 6, 1959 - August 2, 2025

Lisa D. McComsey took the stairway to heaven to run with the angels on August 2, 2025.

A Jersey Shore native, Lisa grew up in Toms River, NJ, and most recently lived in Red Bank. She attended Toms River High School South (’77) where she was on the tennis and track teams and, not surprisingly, won the senior superlative award for “best smile.” She received a BA degree in Art History from Bucknell University (’81) where she was also a Tri-Delta sister. While in college, Lisa spent a year living and working in Paris and travelling extensively throughout Europe.

With her heart set on the Big Apple, Lisa moved to New York City to show off her French skills at Cosmair/ L'Oréal Cosmetics. She then worked as a copywriter for several national publishers including Time, Inc. and Condé Nast, as well as many freelance writing and marketing projects. Knowing she was “born to run”, she joined the New York Roadrunners Club where she made some lifelong friends and began training for her first NYC Marathon. During the 90s, she left the concrete jungle to work first in the Costa Rican jungle and then in Baja California Sur as a volunteer English teacher (thereby adding Spanish to her seemingly infinite skill set).

Lisa loved the outdoors, and was an avid cyclist, hiker, and runner with 25 marathons under her belt. She never missed the annual River to Bay 5K founded by her father, Ed, in 1992. If you ever saw a flash of purple on the Seaside boardwalk, it was probably Lisa training for one of her marathons (which took almost half the year) or casually running with her Saturday Morning Running (and Breakfast) Club. She also did several century (100-mile) bike rides throughout the country and even rode her bike across the state of Iowa (Iowa is not flat!) In 2009, Lisa became a “devoted, but not militant” vegan (and then a “seagan”), and with co-author Amy Cramer, wrote two books on the subject: The Vegan Cheat Sheet (Perigee, 2013) and Seagan Eating (TarcherPerigee, 2016).

Lisa was a long-time member and past-president of the Ocean County Business Association, and served as editor of the OCBA magazine, Ocean Life. She often said that she considered OCBA to be her second family. She served on the Board of Directors of the John F. Peto Studio Museum in Island Heights, and participated in several creative writing and artistic groups. She was also a member of the Toms River Yacht Club, serving on committees for various events. A competitive Toastmaster, she captivated audiences with her engaging wit and humor.

A deeply spiritual person, Lisa was most recently a member of the Island Heights United Methodist Church. She also enjoyed yoga and meditation, participating in a weekly meditation Sangha with her group of like-minded “Sangha sisters” whom she loved dearly.

A true Jersey Girl to the core, she was a Springsteen superfan who attended many shows (large and small, near and far), dancing (in the dark) and singing the night away to the soundtrack of her life at the Jersey Shore.

Lisa embraced life to the fullest every day. In recent years she traveled extensively with her husband, Rick, including an annual winter trip to Key West, where they forged many special friendships. She made it a point to run or walk at least three to five miles every single day, no matter how she felt or what the weather brought. She liked to remind everyone that, “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes.” Her life was filled with creative activities, fun times and great meals with family and friends, joyful holiday gatherings, and much, much more. She always kept her snappy sense of style and loved lots of color. She had beautiful blue eyes and spectacular, long flowing hair. Lisa’s love, light, and kind heart will be deeply missed by her family as well as the countless friends she has kept up with over the years and all over the country.

Lisa is survived by her loving husband, Richard A. Askoff (Rick); her mother, Alicia McComsey; her brother, Scott (Julie); sisters, Leslie (Bobby) and Marisa (Gavin); stepsons, RJ, Jason, and Nathaniel; nephews, Campbell, Tristan, Madsen and Declan; nieces, Kirstin and Montana; and her adorable Bichon Frisé, Phoebe Snow. Her father, Dr. G. Edward McComsey, a founder of Riverfront Dental Care of Toms River, noted watercolorist, and also an avid runner, predeceased her in 2021.

The family is planning a celebration of Lisa’s life, to be held at 11:00 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 23 2025 at the Island Heights United Methodist Church. A repast will follow at Toms River Yacht Club. In Lisa’s honor, please consider wearing something bright and colorful."

In lieu of flowers, donations to Mary’s Place by the Sea in Ocean Grove, NJ, or Unite for HER in Malvern, PA, would be greatly appreciated.