View Hope Sternberg's Obituary and express your condolences

Hope Sternberg passed peacefully at home on Sunday, November 30, 2025 surrounded by family.Hope was born in Brooklyn, New York on January 28, 1933. She attended elementary school at PS188 and graduated from Lincoln High School in Brooklyn in 1951. She went on to earn a B.A. in Elementary Education with a Minor in Economics at Brooklyn College, plus 30 credits toward a Master’s degree in Learning Disabilities.As a young woman, Hope was an elementary school teacher at PS-188, the same school she attended. Hope also worked as a clerk at the health food store her mother owned and managed on Kings Highway in Brooklyn. Hope met her husband, Irwin “Sonny” Sternberg, while both were vacationing at the Green Mansion singles resort in Upstate New York. They were married on June 3, 1956. After the birth of their first child, the couple moved from Brooklyn to Old Tappan, NJ in 1959. There, Hope and Sonny raised four children. Hope stayed active in the community, worked as a substitute teacher, and spent countless hours driving kids to piano lessons, Scout activities, Hebrew School and ballet classes, baseball games, fishing derbies, and so much more.While four children kept Hope on her toes, she always made time for competitive activities and card games with neighbors, friends and family, including Bridge, Mahjong, couples bowling, and Canasta.In 1976, Hope and Sonny moved their family to Ocean Township, NJ, where she helped put her kids through college, working nine years as an administrative clerk for the U.S. Military at Fort Monmouth in Shrewsbury, NJ. Upon retirement, Hope was awarded a special citation for her tireless support of American soldiers serving overseas in the Desert Storm conflict. A colleague said, “I like Hope’s attitude and involvement and her care for people. She is a risk taker, respects feelings very much and I would follow her to the end of the world.”Hope spent the last 30 years living at the Four Seasons “active adult” community in Lakewood NJ. There, she enjoyed retirement with activities including visits to the Jersey Shore, swimming and the hot tub, book reading clubs and women’s talk groups, mastering her VHS - and then - TIVO recording systems, many more Mahjong and Bridge games, and bus trips to Atlantic City. Hope especially loved spending time with visiting children, grandchildren and, eventually, her great grandson Felix. The gifts Hope gave family members were especially memorable because they always included a poem she composed and personalized for each occasion. Every fall, Hope loved to treat the family with her dramatic recital of a story she had memorized as a child about “Little Orphan Annie”. Every verse of the tale ended with the terrifying line, “... and the goblins will git ya, if you don’t watch out!”Hope is survived by four children, Mark (Diane Groszek) Sternberg of Warren PA, Eve (Mike) Chwatel of East Brunswick NJ, Franklin (Pegeen) Sternberg of Easton PA, and Elizabeth Walters of Denver CO. Hope was proud of her nine grandchildren, Jesse, Michael, Shane, David, Jake, Laura, Ryan, Jack, and Connor; her great-grandson, Felix, and several nieces and nephews.Hope was predeceased by her husband Irwin, her parents Jesse and Augusta Schimmel, and her siblings, Ruth Dessau and Joseph Sachs.Visitation and a memorial service on behalf of Hope’s life will be held from 11 am to 1 pm on Tuesday, December 2 at the Colonial Funeral Home at 2170 Highway 88, Brick NJ 08724. Family and friends are invited to gather for a repast luncheon from 1:30 to 4 pm at Frank’s Italian Ristorante at 1900 Hwy 70, Ste 225, Lakewood, NJ 08701. Hope will be interred the following morning along with her husband Irwin at the Riverside Jewish Cemetery in Saddle Brook, NJ.In lieu of flowers and to honor Hope’s memory, a donation may be made to the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation at https://jbjsf.charityproud.org/Donate/?cid=10394 to address issues of food insecurity.

Hope P. Sternberg

Guest Book

Obituary

Hope's Obituary