Roberta J. Bruinooge

PROSPECT PARK, N.J. - Roberta J. Bruinooge (nee Spoelhof), 83, of Prospect Park, passed away Jan. 23, 2012.

She was born in a parsonage in Lodi. She then lived in Kitchener, Ontario, before moving back to Lodi in 1949 and subsequently to Prospect Park in 1997.

Roberta worked in the accounting department of the Bendix Aeronautical Corp., Eclipse Pioneer Division, Teterboro, during World War II, then at Mutual Life Assurance Co. in Ontario. She also worked along with her parents, Rev. Charles and Elizabeth Spoelhof, on the Home Mission Field in Canada.

In the early 1950s, she was a correctional officer at the Bergen County Prison and guarded a material witness of a gangland slaying of mobster Willie Moretti. She worked at the Lodi Cemetery Company, Inc. as manager and was an officer on the board of directors since 1983.

She was a member of the Unity Christian Reformed Church in Prospect Park, former member of Richfield Christian Reformed Church in Clifton, where she served as an elder and pastoral care worker, former member of the Lodi Christian Reformed Church, where she was an organist for 25 years and a member of the Lodi Artist Guild. She also played at churches in Ontario.

She was the beloved wife of the late Benjamin A. Bruinooge for nearly 60 years until his death in 2008.

She was the devoted mother of Arthur Bruinooge and his wife, Barbara, of Hollis, N.H., David Bruinooge and his wife, Kathleen, of Maywood, and John Bruinooge and his wife, Judy, of Prospect Park.

She was the loving grandmother of seven and great-grandmother of three; and dear sister of John Spoelhof of Rochester, N.Y. She was predeceased by her sister, Carolyn Veldkamp, and her brother, Charles Spoelhof.

.

SERVICES: Funeral services are Friday at 11 a.m. at Unity Christian Reformed Church, 331 North 11th St., Prospect Park. Private interment at Lodi Cemetery.

Calling hours are Thursday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at Vander Plaat-Vermeulen Memorial Home, 530 High Mountain Road, Franklin Lakes, N.J.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Eastern Christian School Association, 50 Oakwood Ave., North Haledon, NJ 07508 or to the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, 2850 Kalamazoo S.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49560.

For further information, go to vpmemorial.com or call (201) 891-4770.