Obituary of Stephanie H Reyes

Stephanie Helen (Ryder) Reyes of Basking Ridge, surrounded by her family passed away at the age of 46 on October 28, 2020 at Morristown Medical Center. Born in Livingston, NJ and raised in Union and Warren Township, she attended public school in Warren and graduated from Watchung Hills Regional High School in 1991. While living in Warren she participated in extracurricular softball, soccer and tennis. Stephanie also loved and was part of the Girl Scouts. She worked part-time during her high school years for PathMark in Gillette and also for Dendrite in Morris Plains as a Data Entry Clerk and later at Deloitte & Touche as a travel coordinator. After graduating from high school she followed her brother to Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, where she was a member of Phi Sigma Sigma sorority and played tennis. In 1996 she graduated from Stevens with a Computer Science Bachelors degree and had various job offers from Merck, Paine Webber and others but chose Goldman Sachs. She commuted to NYC from a rented apartment in Hoboken and got her MBA (a double major) in Finance and Marketing in 2003 from NYU's Stern School of Business and as a very bright and self-motivated employee she was prized for her dedication and received many job offers, even from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Jose lived on the first floor of that apartment building and it was love at first sight - they enjoyed shopping, hiking and running together. It was just a matter of time before they were married in 2004 and moved to Basking Ridge to start their family. Christopher was born in 2006 and with Isabella on the way in 2008 she left Goldman for jobs closer to home so she could spend more time with her children, though she did love travelling when her jobs sent her to Japan, France and England. A committed member at the Church of Saint James in Basking Ridge and strong in her faith, Stephanie volunteered more and more of her time as her children grew - joining four ministries (Women's Ministry, Family Catechesis, Faith Sharing Sisters and Bible Study) and volunteering as a Cub Scout Den Leader and later as a Boy Scout Merit Badge Counselor. She loved Scouting and urged her children to continue in both programs; both are altar servers, Chris is now a Boy Scout working on his Eagle rank and Isabella is a member of the St. James Youth Ministry. She loved visiting Rehoboth Beach in Delaware and Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania so much that she dreamed of moving to either location to run a small business. She loved her mother's home-made pierogies, she loved planning vacations, anticipating the needs of others and she loved children. Her last big trip with Jose before her illness was to Poland on a religious pilgrimage, where she also introduced her husband to the culture and country of her ancestry as well as some of her mother's family members. Stephanie is survived by her children Christopher and Isabella; her husband Jose; her brother Michael Ryder and his wife Angela and kids Bernard and Catherine; and her parents Elizabeth and Walter Ryder. Visitation will be held on Monday, November 2, 2020 from 9:30 - 11:30 am at Gallaway and Crane Funeral Home, 101 S. Finley Ave, Basking Ridge. Funeral Mass will follow at 12:00 Noon at the Church of Saint James, 184 S. Finley Ave,Basking Ridge.   In lieu of flowers, please make donations in Stephanie's name to one of her favorite charities: St. Labre Indian School (www.stlabre.org), St. Joseph's Indian School (www.stjo.org) or Compassion International (www.compassion.com). Stephanie loved children and believed in doing everything she could to make their lives easier. For further information, or to leave an online condolence message please visit www.gcfuneralhome.com