In Memoriam: Longtime Sea Bright Resident, Volunteer, Elizabeth DeGiulio, 82

Longtime Sea Bright resident, Shore Regional Board of Education Vice President, and avid volunteer, Elizabeth DeGiulio, passed away peacefully at her home last week. She was 82.

“Elizabeth and her family moved to Sea Bright more than 30 years ago, and she became a champion for her small Jersey Shore town. She was determined to see it survive after the devastation of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, volunteering her time and effort to the rehabilitation of local homes and businesses, and the preservation of the town’s protective dune grasses. Elizabeth served on the Sea Bright planning board, was a member of a local garden club and the town library committee. She was the current Vice President of the Shore Regional Board of Education. Brilliant, kind, compassionate, loving, witty, humble, and joyful are just some of the words that could be used to describe Elizabeth, but she was defined by her unwavering love for her family … Elizabeth was everyone’s biggest fan, even perfect strangers. Hers is a loss that will be deeply felt by everyone who was blessed enough to know her.”
Loved ones of Elizabeth DeGiulio in her obituary

Born in New York City to John and Elizabeth Parise, Elizabeth and her identical twin sister Joan grew up in the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn with their younger sister, Maryann. Elizabeth’s mother, a no-nonsense nurse, was the only woman in the neighborhood who knew how to drive a car, and her daughter lived her life with that same can-do spirit.

Following graduation from St. Brendan’s High School, Elizabeth began her studies at Hunter College in New York where she met fellow student Dr. Allan DeGiulio, “her beloved partner in life for 61 years until his passing in 2022,” her obituary said. “During the nomadic journey necessitated by Allan’s work as a college administrator and later as a community advocate,” Elizabeth earned a BA from Hunter College, a Master of Arts in ESL and Linguistics from Fairleigh Dickinson University, and a Master of Education in Educational Leadership and Administration from the University of Nevada-Reno. She also completed all the course work toward a PhD.

Elizabeth pursued a teaching career that lasted more than 25 years.

“She was a teacher by profession and in her heart. She possessed an insatiable intellectual curiosity; mention any subject, and chances were she had read a book or article about it. Her enthusiasm for shared knowledge was contagious and unflagging. Elizabeth was an empathetic and passionate advocate for her English as a Second Language (ESL) students, many of whom were recent immigrants navigating a new language and culture.”

She genuinely cared for all aspects of the lives of her five children: David DeGiulio, Lisa Barthel (Steven), Christopher DeGiulio, Merissa Buczny (Michael), and Gianna DeGiulio (Tara). For her 10 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, she was their most ardent cheerleader.

A memorial mass for Elizabeth will be held at the Church of the Nativity, 180 Ridge Rd., Fair Haven, at 11 a.m. on May 31. The family requests that you share any memories and photos you may have of Elizabeth to the following address: [email protected].

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Elizabeth DeGiulio Scholarship Fund, which has been established in her name for a Shore Regional High School ESL student, at the following: Elizabeth DeGiulio Scholarship Fund, C/O Shore Regional High School District, 132 Memorial Park Highway, West Long Branch, NJ, 07764.

— Edited obituary prepared by family via Thompson Memorial Home