In Memorium: Longtime Monmouth Beach Resident Maddy Sheprow, 89

Longtime Monmouth Beach resident Madeline “Maddy” Frances Sheprow passed away peacefully in the early morning of June 25. She was 89.

She always brought a calming, peaceful, and accepting spirit with her, which served her other legendary trademark: her flair for talking with any and all people was an art she carried to her last days. At other times she would enjoy the peace and solitude of long walks, and was often spotted briskly walking miles away in neighboring towns.  

Her last few months were spent at the home of one of her sons, surrounded by her family, sharing much laughter, storytelling and reminiscing with her children and grandchildren. Maddy was an avid reader all her life and on summer days could regularly be found with a good  book, sitting under the canopy’s shade at the Monmouth Beach Bathing Pavilion.

She was hugely supportive of, and very supported by, her sons and daughters and their spouses. Her love of and faith in her entire family seemed unquestioned and bottomless. For her grandchildren, Maddy’s home was a combination of playground, exploration and adventure, escape and sanctuary.

Loved ones of Maddy Sheprow in her obituary

She was a parishioner and frequent daily mass attendee at The Church of the Precious Blood in Monmouth Beach. 

Madeline was born Oct.16, 1930 at her family home on Fox Place, Jersey City, NJ, to the late Edwin Mark and Madeline (née Dore) Sullivan. She dedicated her adult life to raising her six children and found great joy in spending time with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

She grew up in Jersey City, graduating from St. John’s Elementary School and then St. Aloysius High School in 1948. At St. Aloysius she served several years each as the class’ secretary and vice president. She also served on the Religious and the Senior Prom committees. She played varsity basketball and was on the cheerleading squad. “Only in the last years of her life did her children discover her yearbooks and realize that in both her junior and senior years she had been named both Most Attractive and Most Popular Girl,” loved ones said in her obituary

After high school, Maddy worked for several years in New York City, until she married her husband, Ralph Sheprow, on June 30, 1951. In 1959, they moved with their four young children from Jersey City into a house they built in Monmouth Beach. They soon added two more children to the family.  

Madeline was predeceased by her husband of 53 years, Jersey City Police Captain Ralph William Sheprow, in 2004.  She was also predeceased by her eldest daughter, Nanette Gloria Sheprow, of East Hampton, NY, in 2019, and her one sister, Ellen Gudaitis, in 2010.   

She is survived by: five children, Mark (Kathleen), of Spring Lake, Matt (Betsey), of Wall, Brian (Janie), of Monmouth Beach, Nora (Harry Hobbits), of New York City, and Ellen (Anthony Ramirez), of Wall; her adored and adoring grandchildren, Paul (Cara) and Claire Sheprow, and Rachel VanVoorhis, Mary (fiancé Michael Coronna) and Lizzie Sheprow, Ryan, Kathleen and Jennifer Sheprow, Liam Hobbits, and Elena (fiancé Walter Worsham) and Anna Tenaglia; and great-grandchildren, Flora, Ralph and Gwendolyn Sheprow, and Walter Worsham.

The family will hold a private funeral mass. A memorial service for the extended family and friends will be planned for a future date. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Madeline’s name to the charity of your choice. Arrangements are under the care of the John E. Day Funeral Home in Red Bank.      

Our days are much darker at her passing, but our lives have been always and eternally enriched and rewarded by this daughter, wife, mother, grand and great-grandmother, kin of a large family, and friend to many all her life. The comforts of heaven now certainly shower upon this most wonderful woman.

Loved ones of Maddy Sheprow in her obituary