Juliet Procaccini Obsteins, 62, died peacefully at home Dec. 3, overcome by her long battle with FTD (frontotemporal degeneration).
Juliet leaves her husband of 32 years Egils ‘Ed’ Obsteins and her cherished son Erik; her brother Charles Procaccini; sister-in law Elizabeth and niece Christina; and her mother-in-law Alida Obsteins; her loving caregiver of three years Patti Travis; her devoted friend Kathy Alter; the caring and kind staff of Meridian at Home Hospice Care who will all miss her; and her loving dog Rosie, always at her side.
Juliet was preceded in death by her parents, Ralph and Rose Guilino Procaccini of West New York.
She and her brother Charles, grew up in a very Italian neighborhood, in a two-family house that her family shared with her paternal grandparents living upstairs. There was the traditional family dinner gathering of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins every Sunday at 2:00.
Juliet studied computer science at the University of Tampa, completing her Bachelor of Science in computer science at St. Peter’s in Jersey City. She progressed from her early days of computer programming on mainframes to the PC-based platform, becoming fluent in many programming languages along the way. Her specialty was database design and development and her elegant coding style reflected the same artistry she brought to painting, drawing and sewing. She made being a nerd cool. Her 30-year career was spent at Sea-Land, Sensor Technologies and CommVault.
Her last first date was a blind date with a guy named Egils. When they met for lunch that day in New York City, Egils was taken with her beauty, but fell in love with her spirit, and that they had much in common – skiing, the beach, cooking, travel. They married on July 12, 1986 and started their life together in Middletown.
On the last day of 1993, she gave birth to her greatest joy, her son Erik. He was the light of her life. She was very involved in his life, sports, schoolwork and pushed him to be his best. She supported him and encouraged him to take up piano, guitar, skiing. She was the fun mom in a neighborhood full of kids – all the kids loved her!
Juliet was a lover of art and drawing. She was brilliant in the details of the Halloween characters that she created for her family on her favorite holiday. She loved skiing and yoga, working out, biking, hiking and being active. She never gave up. When she first started experiencing FTD symptoms, she did research, changed her diet, worked out more, did puzzles and fought to the end to not let the disease overpower her. Her spirit was indomitable.
Juliet enjoyed life to the fullest, and was a truly happy, joyful person. Juliet will be remembered above all for her devotion to her family and friends. Her kindness was boundless. Her smile lit up the room. Her hugs were the best – you felt her love. She was genuine and authentic and made each of her friends feel special. She was blessed to have an amazing circle of devoted friends that are all better for having known her.
Friends were received for a memorial gathering Dec. 8 at Thompson Memorial Home, Red Bank.
In lieu of flowers please consider donations be made in her honor to AFTD at theaftd.org/get-involved/ways-to-give/ or Meridian At Home Hospice Care at 1409.thankyou4caring.org/pages/donation-page—hospice.
A guest book and tribute are available at thompsonmemorial.net.
