Obituary of Elsa B Zelley

ELSA (BINGEMANN) ZELLEY

Elsa was born on May 30, 1939 in Camden, New Jersey, to Henry Frederick Bingemann and Hannah H. (Wells) Bingemann.  She passed away on April 23, 2023 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s Disease.  Elsa was raised in Marlton, New Jersey by her parents and her aunt, Florence (Wells) Cline. She graduated from Haddonfield Memorial High School in 1957 and from Ursinus College in 1961 with a bachelor’s degree in biology.  She married Robert Allen Zelley of Haddonfield, New Jersey in 1961.  After briefly living in towns in southern New Jersey and southeastern Pennsylvania as a young couple, she and Bob lived in Hackettstown, Titusville, Kinnelon and Independence Twp., New Jersey.  They also enjoyed vacationing in their shore home in Harvey Cedars, New Jersey.  Elsa worked for Wyeth Laboratories and Merck Pharmaceutical after college, including working on a team developing the Measles vaccine.  In later years she worked as a veterinary technician and a bank teller.  Her last career was as a school bus driver, which she thoroughly enjoyed.  Elsa was a Worthy Matron of the Independence Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star in Hackettstown, New Jersey; a Cub Scout leader and Boy Scout board member in Kinnelon, New Jersey; a member and Treasurer of the Kinnelon United Methodist Church; and a member of the Rockport Presbyterian Church.  Elsa loved camping, traveling, gardening, bird watching and tracing the history and locations of the Morris Canal.  She loved all animals and adored their many pets, particularly their Labrador Retrievers and their cats.  She loved Long Beach Island and was an avid collector of Barnegat Lighthouse collectibles. She was also an avid collector of “rubyware” souvenir glassware.  Elsa was the loving and devoted wife of Bob, loving mother of son and daughter-in-law Frederick and Patricia Zelley, and loving grandmother of Christopher, Jillian, Jacqueline, Nicholas and Alexander Zelley, of Randolph, New Jersey.

A Memorial Service will be held on Thursday, May 4, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 17 Oak Avenue, Metuchen, New Jersey 08840.  Interment will follow at Union Cemetery, 516 West Broad Street, Quakertown, Pennsylvania 18951.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to the Alzheimer’s Association, Greater New Jersey Chapter, 23 Vreeland Road, Suite 105, Florham Park, New Jersey 07932 https://www.alz.org/?form=alz_donate