Eleanor Mensonides, nee Bhend, of Vernon passed away Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, surrounded by her loving family. She was 74.
Eleanor was born to Joseph and Ruth Bhend in Paterson and graduated from Kinnelon High School with the Class of 1966.
Her first job was as a cashier at the A&P in the Meadtown Shopping Center in Kinnelon, followed by various waitressing jobs, working in supermarkets, and eventually for the Township of Vernon as its first Recycling Coordinator.
She then moved to the Sussex County Municipal Utilities Authority as assistant recycling coordinator and enforcement. She later joined the Sussex County Health Department as a health inspector. She drafted some of the legislation governing waste-flow, which has had immeasurable impact on keeping our landfills free of illegally transported or dumped material.
In keeping with her interest in protecting our lands, she became involved in town and county matters, running twice for Township Committee in Vernon, sitting on the Economic Development Commission in Vernon, serving on the Sussex County Solid Waste Advisory Council for 27 years and for 22 years on the Sussex County Water Quality Policy Advisory Committee.
Never has the fiery redhead reputation been better earned than by Eleanor. Anyone who knew her for more than a few minutes realized she was a force to be reckoned with, and it was so much better for your cause if you had her in your corner.
She was smart, savvy and shrewd. If she believed in something, she dove in with both feet, overcame any obstacles and saw her passion projects through to the end. Case in point, the proposed burial of yards and yards of radium-tainted soil in Vernon’s farmland in 1986. She was one of the local firebrands who went to Trenton to protest the decision to dump the tainted soil without the town being represented in court.
She also was involved in fundraising for two township residents to help with the medical costs associated with their liver transplants.
Through all this, she was a person who was always ready with a smile, a contagious laugh and a great sense of humor. She laughed loudest at herself and laughed best with friends and family.
Eleanor met her one true love as a teenager at the Cave under the clubhouse in Fayson Lakes. She and Rudi were married on April 27, 1968, by the Rev. Bernardine Kessing at St. Anthony’s RC Church in Butler after Rudi’s tour in Vietnam.
They settled in Bloomingdale’s Morris Lakes neighborhood, where they had their two daughters, Monica and Melissa. The family soon moved to the Netherlands to be close to Rudi’s family, then to the Barry Lakes section of Vernon, followed by another move to Dordrecht, Netherlands, and finally back to Vernon, where they have lived since 1980. Rudi and Ellie’s love lasts beyond the 56 years of their marriage.
Ellie was predeceased by her parents, Joseph and Ruth Bhend, and her brother Joseph.
She is survived by her beloved husband, Rudi Mensonides; sister, JoAnna Sheridan-Costanzo; brother, Robert Bhend; daughters, Monica Rolando and Melissa Mensonides; grandchildren, Robert Brochhausen, Brandie Rolando, Victoria Costa and Dion Rolando; as well as her large extended family.
Her passing leaves a hole in the hearts of her family, and she will be missed beyond words.
Visitation was Thursday, Oct. 17 at Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne. A funeral was Friday, Oct. 18 from the funeral home with a graveside service to follow at the Northern New Jersey Veterans Memorial Cemetery, 75 N. Church Road, Sparta.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to the American Heart Association would be greatly appreciated.