Nancy Milan

Nancy started her life in North Bergen, NJ in a row home with both her parents and grandparents and surrounded by her extended family on the same block. Her family of Italian Heritage were all very close, and Nancy would eventually be well-remembered not only for keeping in close contact with all her family, but also for assembling everyone for big family reunion parties in the summers at her home with husband John.

She met her high school sweetheart, John, on her first day of class as a senior that transferred into Boonton High School. After teasing Nancy and calling her “new girl”, John convinced her to ride in his convertible Chevy to take her driver’s test, and they were inseparable from that point on. Nancy and John married and had their first daughter, Toni, soon after high school, then came son Mark three years later, and Jennifer five years after that. They started in their first home in the rural town of Vernon, NJ. In 1974, they moved to Tucson, Arizona, camping across the country on their way there, and then later, camping again along the way to California to complete their first coast-to-coast trip. They returned to Vernon a couple of years later and raised their children there, enjoying tons of family time including camping trips and beach time at the NJ Shore, eventually purchasing a condo in Sea Isle City – all the while bringing extended family and friends along, making memories for all that have lasted everyone’s lifetimes.

Nancy had a successful career as an International Database Administrator and a Human Resources Administrator for AT&T. She then went on to help John run and grow his general contracting firm, Marc-Allen Associates, and later served as an Executive Assistant to the CEO of Howmet Corporation.

Nancy and John gave selflessly to their children and instilled a sense of love and adventure for camping, travelling, gardening and animals – allowing their children to keep just about every type of pet one could imagine! Nancy gave back to the community by serving on the Vernon Township Ambulance Squad and coaching the cheerleading team that her girls belonged to (which supported the football team that their son played on) and together Nancy and John supported all their kids sporting, dance, and school events.

John and Nancy traveled extensively, doing their second cross-country driving vacation later in life where they saw the rest of the United States. They enjoyed a cruise along the coast of Alaska, a trip to Hawaii, a trip to Turkey and Greece, and in their final big vacation, they took their children and grandkids on a cruise to Bermuda. Nancy and John also made many family trips to one of their favorite places, Saranac Lake, NY, to visit Nancy’s brother Steven and his wife Judy and their children. Nancy enjoyed simple things in life like good Italian food with family, and fun at home playing cards and laughing with their lifelong friends and neighbors Marge and Bob. Nancy lived a full life, spending most of her time dedicated to her kids and husband John. They met hard times in life with harder work, a lot of grace, and copious amounts of humor and laughter. Nancy’s love of animals, gullible nature, incredible empathy, fantastic sense of humor, and love of silliness and laughter will be missed by all who knew her.

Devoted mother of Toni Shoemaker, her husband Raymond, Mark Milan, his wife Monica, Jennifer Milan and her husband Joseph Stoll. Cherished grandmother of Alison, her husband Roger, R.J. and Kevin, Logan and London. Proud great-grandmother of four great-grandchildren. Dear sister of Steven Natoli and his wife Judy. Loving step-daughter of Gloria Natoli. Also survived by her step-brother Harold McQuarry and many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

Nancy was pre-deceased by her husband John A. Milan, her parents Anthony and Grace Natoli, her brother-in-law Jerry, Aunties Lee and Anna, Cousin Andrea, and her stepsister Doreen Lorenz.

Visitation at the Leonardis Memorial Home, Inc., 210 Ridgedale Avenue, Florham Park on Sunday, May 4th from 12-2pm, including a prayer service at 1:40.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Popcorn Park Zoo in Nancy’s name to: https://ahscares.org/popcorn-park/ or a tree can be planted by clicking the link below.

To plant a beautiful memorial tree in memory of Nancy Milan, please visit our Tree Store.