Matthew Rickard

Lydia Esther Lopez, age 65 of Hampton Twp., NJ, passed away Sunday, November 23, 2025 at Newton Medical Center following a long illness. Born and raised in Perth Amboy, NJ, she resided in Sparta Twp. for almost three decades before moving to Hampton Twp. two years ago.

Daughter of the late Basilio Lopez and Digna Perez Lopez of Puerto Rico by way of Perth Amboy, Lydia was a graduate of the Perth Amboy High School class of 1978. Lydia was the first in her family to go to college, earning her Bachelor's Degree in Gender Studies from Douglass College in 1982. After college, she entered the workforce and pursued opportunities in retail management, insurance, and real estate before eventually settling down and starting a family. She built a beautiful home in Sparta, NJ and gave her children a wonderful life.

As her children entered middle school, Lydia reentered higher education and the workforce to provide for them as a newly single parent. She attended Sussex County Community College for her Paralegal Studies certificate, flourishing as a student and pursuing legal topics that interested her. She promptly started a career close to home at Laddey, Clark, and Ryan, a law firm in Sparta NJ, specializing in bankruptcy. She later moved on to a larger firm in Basking Ridge, before finally landing at her last firm, Marshall Dennehey in Roseland, NJ in the medical malpractice field. She took pride in her work and enjoyed the challenges of the job, the friends she found there, and the sense of purpose it gave her.

Lydia's greatest legacy was her children. She took them to concerts and Broadway shows, drove them to violin and guitar lessons, and gave them unconditional support in their passions. When she sent her children to college, it was with her full support to do whatever inspired them academically and artistically. She loved making memories with her children and planned trips with them to Niagara Falls, Boston and Cape Cod, Newport, RI, Lake George, down the shore to Avon-by-the-Sea, and across the Southwest from the Grand Canyon to Las Vegas. She loved her parents deeply to the end, taking her children to visit them often and far once they moved back to Puerto Rico. Lydia documented everything with her camera, not for love of photography but to preserve each moment for times like this.

Lydia was passionate about classic movies, especially in the horror genre; decorating her home in a cozy fashion with bird houses, flowers, and wicker; and playing games on her iPad. She was a woman of taste, sharing her favorite new shows and movies with her kids and waiting to watch with them the ones that they might like. Her sense of style was classy and refined, being a true Talbots woman for as long as her children can remember. She dressed in bold patterns, listened to everything from Cher to Pitbull, and had a phone reminder go off every Saturday to "Have fun…laugh, enjoy life."

Lydia is survived by her daughter Melissa Gabilanes and her husband Eric Farwell, her son Jeremy Gabilanes, her sister Miriam Lopez and her husband Hector Delgado, her brother Miguel and his wife Lynn Lopez as well as her many nieces and nephews.

Memorial visitation will be held Sunday December 7, 2025 from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM with Memorial Services beginning at 2:30 PM in the Iliff-Ruggiero Funeral Home #156 Main St. (Rt. 206) Newton, NJ 07860. In lieu of flowers, donations in Lydia's memory may be made to the Cancer Research Institute www.cancerresearch.org. Online condolences through www.iliff-ruggierofuneralhome.com.