Obituary of Edwina C Malnak

Edwina (“Wynnie”) Malnak, 86, passed away due to an extended illness, on October 24, 2019, in Bernardsville, NJ.

Born in Newark NJ, September 21, 1933, daughter of Edward and Columbia Keller, sister of Doris Chase and Linda Paar.

Wynnie graduated from Columbia High School then attended Upsala College where she met her husband Alan Malnak. They were married on August 22, 1953 while Mr. Malnak served in the Army Signal Corp. After the Army, they moved to Orange, NJ, where Wynnie was an active member of the Orange Junior Women’s Club. They then moved to Maplewood where they lived for 36 years before moving to Bernardsville, NJ.

While living in Maplewood, Wynnie worked as an assistance nursery school teacher, and also provided lunches to children whose parents worked full time.

She was a member of the Maplewood Little Club, where she bowled and played tennis. In Bernardsville she was a member of the Basking Ridge Country Club, where she played golf. Wynnie won tournaments in all three sports. For many years Wynnie was a board member and teacher with the Creative Living Women’s Bible Study, where she was privileged to lead many women into a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Following her spiritual beliefs, Wynnie spearheaded the US Federal Court case, Malnak v Yogi, which subsequently removed Transcendental Meditation from public schools based on the principal of separation of church and state.

While in Maplewood, Wynnie was also a high school religion teacher where she taught and mentored high school students from her church. Adolescents were her passion and her home had an open door for all of them.

Her hobbies included reading and growing orchids; her home was filled with beautiful flowers.

Al and Wynnie were married for 66 years, having children Alan Jr., Leslie Malnak-MacGray, Edward Malnak, and Brian Malnak. Wynnie was the grandmother to five grandchildren, Bailey Malnak, Caleb MacGray, Riley Malnak, Kate Malnak, and Will Malnak and two step grandchildren, Jamie MacGray Schwartz and Benjamin MacGray.

Wynnie was also know as the “chicken soup lady”, cooking and delivering a pot of chicken soup to anyone she heard was ill.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held at Stonecrest Community Church in Warren, NJ, on November 2 at 10 am, followed by a repast. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Creative Living Women’s Bible Study 98 Watchung Ave. Chatham, NJ 07928. For further information, or to leave an online condolence message please visit www.gcfuneralhome.com