Augusta C. Torpey, 87, of Lakewood, formerly of Locust, passed away April 29, 2021, at Jersey Shore Medical Center after a long battle with lung disease. Augusta (known to all as Gussie) was born June 16, 1933, in Red Bank and graduated from Middletown High School in 1951.
Upon graduation, she became a Radio City Rockette in New York City for several years. She was a model and participated in many beauty pageants in her younger days where she always took first place. Gussie then had a successful career in banking and was owner of Mrs. Uhlhorns Restaurant and Hotel in Keansburg, along with her mother and sister.
Gussie and her husband Michael owned Hidden Hollow Farms and Hidden Hollow Hounds Fox Hunting Club, leaders in the sport of fox hunting and equestrianship in the Monmouth County area. Prior to her retirement, she was an X-ray technician and office administrator for Red Bank Radiology in Red Bank.
Gussie started out as a teenager learning the value of charity and service through being a part of The Order of the Rainbow for Girls. Gussie was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star Sirius Chapter 123 in Matawan for 63 years. She was a member of The Order of the Amaranth Charity Court in Red Bank for 70 years, achieving the title of Grand Royal Matron for the state of New Jersey. Gussie took great pride in the charity work she did for these organizations as well as the lifelong friendships she held dear that she had made along the way.
Gussie was predeceased by her parents, Ernest and Elizabeth Cordts in 1973, her sister Dolores Widmann in 2018 and her husband Michael Torpey in 2017. Her nephew Christian R. Widmann of Fort Worth, Texas, and her niece Diana E. Widmann of Colts Neck, survive her. She is also survived by her great-niece Morgan E. Welch of Colts Neck and her great nephews, Austin T. Welch of Phoenix, Arizona, and Zachary J. Welch and Lance C. Welch of Colts Neck.
Aunt Gussie was hands on in helping raise her great-niece and great-nephews. She loved them dearly as they did her. They will all miss her tell-it-like-it-is attitude and sharp wit which will never be forgotten.
Gussie had a love for traveling, having spent a lifetime touring the world with her sister. She would take annual cruises with her sister, her niece and her niece’s sister-in-law, Linda Welch; she had many great laughs and memories with them throughout the years they traveled together. Before the pandemic hit, Gussie was fortunate enough to have spent three weeks with her family cruising the Mediterranean Sea with a final stop in Paris. Her bucket list had been completed when she stood atop the Eiffel Tower. She defined it as the best trip she had ever experienced.
The family would like to thank her niece’s dear friend Jody Joseph-Bongiovi for her kindness in preparing weekly meals for Gussie over this past year during the pandemic. We are also very blessed and grateful for her nightly visitations to pray with Gussie in her final weeks in the hospital. The faith (as small as a mustard seed) Jody brought into Gussie’s life helped her tremendously with her final journey home to be with God.
Gussie’s presence, breath-taking beauty and her infectious smile could light up any room. She was a loving and generous woman. She was a force to be reckoned with. The family is forever grateful for each day she gave us and we are all very blessed to have been loved by her. You will be so missed. Rest in peace our dearest Aunt…
Visitation was May 3 at Thompson Memorial Home, Red Bank. A graveside service was held May 4 at the Holmdel Cemetery and Mausoleum.
The article originally appeared in the May 6 – 12, 2021 print edition of The Two River Times.
