Read Monica "Babsie" Elaine Neblett's Obituary & Leave Condolences

In memory of

Monica "Babsie" Elaine Neblett

Bloomfield, NJ, USA

October 6, 1942 - August 29, 2020

Oct 6, 1942 - Aug 29, 2020

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Monica Elaine Neblett, also known to her family as Babs or Babsie, is beginning her life after death.

She was born October 6,1942 at Hague Village, West Coast Demerara, Guyana, South America to the late Joyce Rupert Babb and the late Olga May Lugard Babb. She was the fourth of eight children.

After attending elementary, high school, and the Guyana’s Teacher’s College, she migrated to the United States of America to further her education in 1969. In May 1975, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Education, with a major in Elementary Education, at Seton Hall University.

Monica’s career as an elementary educator spanned 40 years. She taught at Our Lady Help of Christians School for eight years. However, her greatest tenure was serving as a fourth and fifth grade teacher for 32 years at the Dionne Warwick Institute of Entrepreneurship (formerly Lincoln School), where she went on to become a master teacher in the East Orange School District. At Dionne Warwick, Monica was known as a force with a love for the profession. She was committed to educating her students with care, kindness, and a side of sternness, as needed!

Monica was not only a master teacher in the classroom. She was also a master teacher as a wife, mother and aunt. She met her husband, Enrique Neblett-Smith, or “Jerry” as she would affectionately call him, at a wedding reception in East Orange. She would call him whenever she needed his loving help or calm presence or to fix something in the house. Of Monica, Jerry said, “Mom was special to me. She was a very loving person who cared very much about all children. To know her is to love her. She’s the love of my life. There were so many things she encouraged me to do that worked out well. She was a strong, strong, Black woman.”

Monica was a master teacher as a mother. She lost a child she often said was her daughter. Her loving child and probably most devout student, Enrique Jr., was born in 1975. Her loving child and probably most inquisitive student, Shaun, was born in 1977. Monica poured great joy and love into both her sons’ lives. She worked two jobs so that both her boys would receive an education she approved of. She drove them to piano classes and playwriting workshops. She gave them very human talks during rides in her car. She attended their recitals and productions without reservation. And when her sons became men, she loved their beautiful wives and always smiled with love at her grandchildren.

Monica was also a self-described “Episcopalian for life” who, from young, loved to sing and serve in the Church as an usher and Sunday school teacher. As a member of St. John’s Episcopal Church of Montclair for over 25 years, Monica was a friendly face to many. She served the church as a choir member and as an extremely proud sacristan and leader of the Altar Guild.

Monica was respected by and will always be remembered by her brothers and sisters: Rupert, Joycelyn, Linda, Molly, and Celeste, as she joins her late brothers and sisters: Michael, Sinclair and Claudia. She will continue to be an example for her beloved nieces and nephews, grand-nieces and nephews - whom she loved unconditionally and who revered her - and for students and friends. She will always be loved by her loving husband of 47 years, Enrique Sr. (Jerry); sons, Enrique Jr. and Shaun; Daughters-in-Law, Nicole and Thysha; and granddaughters Maya, Ella, and Galaxy.

May Monica’s will-to-be continue to live through us all.

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