Regina C. Liston (née Guerrero), brave and beautiful as ever, passed onward and upward on December 21, 2025, in Toms River, New Jersey. She was 92.

Born on June 21, 1933, in Manhattan to Edward and Mary Guerrero, immigrants from Gibraltar, Regina carried the Gibraltarian spirit of resilience and self-reliance throughout her life. Growing up in the cultural richness and diversity of New York City fostered her enduring love for art, music, and exploration.

In 1951, Regina graduated from Washington Irving High School, where, not surprisingly to her friends and family, she was captain of the glee club and participated in the school’s theater program. She went on to study at the Katherine Gibbs School and Brookdale Community College. She later worked as an administrative assistant at General Dynamics, RCA, and the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, and as a licensed real estate agent. In her retirement, she worked part-time as an elementary school lunch aide and during the Christmas holiday season as a sales associate at Macy’s.

She found joy, peace, and inspiration in nature, often walking wooded trails and coastal paths. Her interests included birdwatching, visiting museums, enjoying music, and traveling with curiosity and enthusiasm.  

Regina was perhaps at her happiest on the beach, enjoying the waves, salt air, and the calming rhythm of the water. While racing to reach the ocean before sunset, she often told her children, “A little beach is better than no beach.”

She saw truth and inspiration across various faiths, whether traveling with a Roman Catholic parish to the Vatican, going on a retreat run by Unitarians, enjoying a sermon at a Presbyterian church, visiting a synagogue, mosque, or Buddhist temple, or attending an Episcopal service in Manhattan at the Church of the Holy Trinity or St. Thomas Church.

One of the greatest gifts Regina gave her children was driving them to New York City to visit museums on days when school was closed because of snow. In their late teens, she took her children on a life-changing trip to Gibraltar to see the place from which her parents had emigrated and to meet cousins with whom her son and daughter maintain close relations to this day.

Regina is survived by her children, Victoria A. Liston (Michelle) and David Guerrero Liston (Sarah), nieces, Catherine Greenfeder (Wayne) and Maureen Priest (Brad), and nephew, William Guerrero (Mayra). Regina was predeceased by her former husband, Victor A. Liston, her longtime partner, Arthur Van Orden, and her brother, Alfred Guerrero.

Regina will be remembered for her contagious laughter, her kinetic energy on and off the dance floor, and a smile that lit up any room and, no doubt, now makes heaven even brighter.

Please join Regina’s family in celebrating her life on January 17, 2026, at 11:30 AM at The Church of the Holy Trinity, 316 East 88th Street, New York, New York. In lieu of flowers, her family encourages friends and family to contribute to the Holy Trinity Neighborhood Center (HTNC). Information about HTNC, including how to donate, can be found at this link: https://www.htncnyc.org/about.

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