Helene Luise Zierold

Helene Luise Zierold, 83, of West Caldwell, N.J. was called home by her Heavenly Father on April 11, 2020.

Born on November 23, 1936 at St. Mary's Hospital in Orange, N.J., she lived in Belleville before moving to West Caldwell with her family in 1950. She graduated from Grover Cleveland High School in 1954 and Montclair State College four years later with a degree in speech and English. She worked weekends and summers during college at O'Dowd's Milk Bar, where she made many happy memories. In 1962, she earned a master's in speech pathology from Teachers College at Columbia University and completed further studies at Columbia, Middlebury, Seton Hall, the University of Vienna and Montclair State.

She traveled to Europe frequently in the 1960s and early 1970s. Her trips included several sea crossings she made in honor of her parents, who emigrated from Germany on steamships. During those years, which were among the happiest of her life, she met her extended family in Germany; taught English on a yearlong Fulbright grant; visited the great cities of Europe; worked as a tour guide; skied the Alps; saw the Oberammergau Passion Play; and had many other adventures. Promising herself that she would go abroad whenever she had at least a week off, she eventually traveled to more than 16 countries.

Her teaching career began in 1958 at Morris Hills High School and ended in 1993 after 26 years at Whippany Park High School, where she taught English, German, and English as a Second Language. She then worked as a secretary for more than 20 years at Calvary Lutheran Church in Verona, N.J., where she had been a member since 1950. A Montville resident for 25 years, she volunteered with the Montville Township High School Music Boosters Association and the German Language School of Morris County.

She loved her family, her church and her lifelong friends. She enjoyed classical music, opera and musical theater, driving stick-shift Volkswagens (particularly red Beetles), showing slides, telling stories about her life, and using her parents' recipes to make delicious German meals and Christmas cookies.

She is predeceased by her parents, Gustave Martin Zierold and Marie Ida Elli Kiesewetter. She is survived by her son, Joseph William McLaughlin Jr., and daughter-in-law, Erin Lee O'Donnell, of Basking Ridge, and two granddaughters, Grace and Cara, who are her greatest joy and happiness. She is also survived by her brothers, Martin Karl Zierold of Loganville, Ga. and Frederick Ernest Zierold of Trussville, Ala., and many nieces and nephews.

A private service and interment were held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A Memorial Service will be held at Calvary Lutheran Church, 23 South Prospect Street, Verona on Sunday, July 11, 2021 at 12:00 pm (NOON).

Please consider making a gift to the American Cancer Society, New Jersey Chapter, 7 Ridgedale Ave. Suite 103, Cedar Knolls, N.J. 07927 in celebration of Helene's four victories over cancer between 1992 and 2019.

Condolences may be left at www.proutfuneralhome.com.