Stephanie Merlock Blazek Smith of Dorothy went to be with her Lord on 16th July at the grand old age of 102 years. Born on 22 February, 1910 at the original Merlock Homestead in Dorothy, she was the youngest of 9 children born to Stephen and Antonia (Pavelenac) who emmigrated from Croatia in the late 19th century. Stephanie was preceded, in death, by her brothers Stephen, Blaze, Joseph, Peter, George, Andrew and sisters Mary and Anna.
She was married to Joseph Blazek, whom she called “the love of her life” for 29 years, from 1934 until his death in 1963. Stephanie later married John Smith, whom she called her “chef and companion” until his death in 1985.
Stephanie was educated in the Weymouth Township school system when it stretched from the Tuckahoe to the Great Egg Harbor Rivers. She has been a parishioner of St. Bernard d’Clairvaux Church in Dorothy, where she received all her sacraments, for 102 years.
During WWII she worked for the Sperry Gyroscope Company in New York City. Stephanie also worked at government contracted clothing factories in South Jersey and as a “nanny”. She was a diehard FDR Democrat who enjoyed playing cards, sewing, gardening, canning, ballroom dancing, and her little house on Pennsylvania Ave, in Dorothy. She often said that she “had traveled the whole country with her husband Joe, but the best place on earth was Dorothy, NJ.”
Stephanie Merlock Blazek Smith is survived by 5 generations of nephews, nieces, cousins, friends, neighbors and her caretakers, grand nephew Andrew & Ethel Merlock, all of whom will sadly miss “Aunt Stephie.”
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Friday, 11 AM, at St. Bernard’s Church, Pennsylvania Avenue, Dorothy, where a viewing will be held from 9-11 AM. Burial will be in St. Bernard’s Church Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers she asked that contributions be made to St. Bernard d’ Clairvaux Mission Church c/o St. Vincent de Paul Parish, 5021 Harding Highway, Mays Landing, NJ 08330
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