Pungerchar, Thespena A.,  Thespena A. “Thes” Pungerchar, 92, died peacefully on June 21, 2022.  She spent her last years close to family in New York.  Thespena was born on April 15, 1930 in Spring Lake, NJ, and grew up in Belmar and Long Branch, NJ at their beautiful beaches.  Attending Manasquan High School, she was active in high school dramas and many clubs and worked for the family establishment, The Dinner Bell.  In the 1950s, Thes modeled in advertisements for The NJ Bell Telephone Company after which she worked for many years as a communications operator.  In the 1970s, she was an early activist for the Environmental Protection Agency and was a trend setter, scratch cooking with locally/seasonally sourced food.  Through the 1980s, she proudly participated in and frequently taught the fiber arts of needlepoint as an ever present member of the Embroiderers Guild of America.  While living in Bernardsville, NJ, she and her husband raised their family while she worked in Real Estate and found time for opportunities to revisit an early love of painting.  Watercolors became an avid hobby and she exhibited many of her paintings at art shows throughout NJ, NY, and CT.   After retiring they lived in Brielle and Ocean, NJ.  

Thespena was very special to many, had a strong sense of humor as well as purpose in life.  Often watching Katherine Hepdurn movies, Julia Child, and Disney’s Snow White, and proud of being both Greek and German, she always enjoyed a good laugh.  She was an example of a powerful modern woman to her daughters, enabling their early pursuits of ballet and ice skating, encouraging self-reliance, and living vicariously through their professional successes.

Joining her husband Matthew in heaven, she is survived by her sister, Anne Anderson Brown, of Ocean County, NJ, and brother, Paul (wife Sally) Skliris of Vero Beach, FL, as well as two daughters, Valerie Young of Highland Falls, NY, (husband James; children Desi and Rex) and Christina Pungerchar of Weymouth, MA, (fiancé Brian Carlic and step-son Scott).

A visitation for Thespena will be held at O’Brien Funeral Home, 2028 Highway 35 at New Bedford Road, Wall, on Friday, July 1st, 2022 from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM. Her graveside service will follow at Greenwood Cemetery, Schoolhouse Road, Brielle at 1:00 PM.  Per family wishes, in lieu of flowers, donations may be made in dedication to Thespena Pungerchar at the MonmouthConservation.org. For information, directions, or condolence messages to the family, please visit www.obrienfuneralhome.com.

Thespena was very special to many, had a strong sense of humor as well as purpose in life.  Often watching Katherine Hepdurn movies, Julia Child, and Disney’s Snow White, and proud of being both Greek and German, she always enjoyed a good laugh.  She was an example of a powerful modern woman to her daughters, enabling their early pursuits of ballet and ice skating, encouraging self-reliance, and living vicariously through their professional successes.

Joining her husband Matthew in heaven, she is survived by her two daughters, Valerie Young of Highland Falls, NY, (husband James; children Desi and Rex) and Christina Pungerchar of Weymouth, MA, (fiancé Brian Carlic and step-son Scott).

A visitation for Thespena will be held at O’Brien Funeral Home, 2028 Highway 35 at New Bedford Road, Wall, on Friday, July 1st, 2022 from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM. Her graveside service will follow at Greenwood Cemetery, Schoolhouse Road, Brielle at 1:00 PM.  Per family wishes, in lieu of flowers, donations may be made in dedication to Thespena Pungerchar at the MonmouthConservation.org. For information, directions, or condolence messages to the family, please visit www.obrienfuneralhome.com.