Theresa E. Nagel née De Deo of Middletown and Somers Point, died June 14, 2022, at her home in Somers Point. She was 92 years old. She was predeceased by her husband of 61 years, William E. Nagel Jr.
Terry grew up in Newark, graduated from Barringer High School, Panzer College (Montclair University) and completed her master’s at New York University. She worked for Standard Oil of NJ (Exxon Mobil) and helped open a sponsored community Center in Elizabeth. She worked for the Rockefeller Foundation’s Institute for Rehabilitation in Manhattan which is now Rusk Institute. She swam with the Newark Athletic Club synchronized swim team, the “NACETTES” performing in local pools up and down the East Coast.
After moving to Middletown in 1956, she became a member of St. Mary’s parish where she started the Mater Dei High School physical education program with Msg. Robert T. Bulman when the school first opened. She was the physical education director for several years and started her own dance studio out of her home. She remained a public school substitute teacher for many years while her family was growing.
Terry joined the Monmouth County 158 Republican Club in the 1970s and was elected to the Republican Party County Committee. She was the NJ Republican Woman of the Year in 1992 and served as president of the NJ Federation of Republican Women from 1995-99. She served on the Middletown Township Welfare Board. She was an active member of the Woman’s Club of Asbury Park, doing volunteer and community service throughout the 1990s and 2000s. She attended several National Republican Conventions and acted as an alternate delegate.
Terry was an avid bridge player. She was a talented seamstress, loved to sew, knit, crochet and paint. She was a devoted wife, mother, daughter and sister.
She was predeceased by her father Ralph (1968), mother Jean née Restaino (1994), sister Agatha Smith (2010) and brother James De Deo (2006). She is survived by her daughter Kathleen Nagel; daughter Elizabeth Connell and son-in-law David Connell; son William E. Nagel III and daughter-in-law Alison Nagel; and grandsons Luke and Ethan Connell and Liam and Jack Nagel.
Visitation was June 22 at the John F. Pfleger Funeral Home, Middletown, followed by funeral Mass at Mary, Mother of God Church, Middletown. Interment immediately followed at Fairview Cemetery Mausoleum, Middletown. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in her name to the following charitable organizations: Middletown Helps Its Own, P.O. Box 105, Port Monmouth, NJ 07758 or Angelic Hospice, 8025 Black Horse Pike, Suite 501, West Atlantic City, NJ 08232.
The article originally appeared in the June 23 – 29, 2022 print edition of The Two River Times.
