Alice Parsells (née McLoughlin), 96, of West Caldwell, New Jersey, passed away peacefully on March 22, 2024. Alice was born on December 2, 1927, in Harlem, New York, to parents Clara McLoughlin (née Daly) and Edward J. McLoughlin.
Alice grew up in the Bronx, where she attended the Ursuline Academy on the Grand Concourse. She often described her childhood as one that was both loving and caring. As a teenager coming of age, Alice lived through the years of the second World War and recounted how she and her friends joined the excited crowds in Times Square on September 2, 1945 (V–J Day), to commemorate what would become one of the most historic moments of her generation.
In 1948, Alice married Leslie Parsells, at the St. Angela Merici Church in New York City. After a short time living in Englewood, the couple moved to Alpine, New Jersey, where they built a home and raised their four children. During her fifty-five years in Alpine, Alice was an engaged and active member of the community, serving twenty-five years as the tax collector/treasurer at the Alpine Borough Hall, as well as holding a position on the board of the Home & School Association and serving as a member of the Alpine Fire Department auxiliary.
To her friends and family, Alice will be remembered most for the deep love for and devotion to her family. Described by those who knew her best, Alice was thoughtful, attentive, and elegant as she moved through the world. She loved reading, boating, and was deeply involved in learning about and exploring her ancestry. Though she enjoyed these and many other activities, anyone close to Alice knew that she was most in her element when entertaining in her Alpine home or when gathering with dear friends and family in places close to her heart, including Rhode Island and Vermont.
In addition to her beloved parents, Alice is predeceased by her husband, Leslie Parsells; her brother, Edward J. McLoughlin, Jr.; and her granddaughter, Kristen Rippe. She is survived by her four children: Thomas Parsells (Linda), Leslie Parsells (Kathy), Edward Parsells, and Alice Cvik (Rob); five grandchildren: Megan Hogan (Jack), Devon Parsells, Thomas Parsells, Jr. (Kylie), Timothy Cvik, and Clara Cvik; and four great-grandchildren: Morgan Rippe, Isabel Hogan, Aoife Hogan, and Brynne Parsells.
Services will be held at 2pm on April 13, 2024 at St. Aloysius Parish, 219 Bloomfield Avenue, Caldwell, New Jersey.
If you would like to share a fond memory of Alice or relay your condolences to the family, please reach out via email at Alicecvik@gmail.com.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the volunteer fire department of Alpine: Reliance Fire Co., 94 Church Street, Alpine, New Jersey 07620.