Obituary of Alma Ruth Melden
Piscataway, NJ – Alma R. (Geiger) Melden, 94, passed away on August 22, 2022 at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. Born in Watervliet, NY to the late Frank Joseph and Kathleen Patricia (Doyle) Geiger, Alma grew up in Syracuse. In 1955, she fell in love and married the late James Richard Melden and in 1962, they settled in East Northport, NY before moving to Piscataway.
Alma attended Oswego Teachers College and worked for Western Union as a sports reporter until motherhood. A member of Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church in Bound Brook, she was also active in the Alter Guild.
She loved bowling, cycling , swimming and walks on the beach. She was an avid puzzler, almost compulsively completing puzzles in the newspaper. Most recently, she entered the digital era and was especially fond of daily Wordle.
In her early years, Alma grow up swimming and canoeing at summer camp with her family on Skaneateles Lake in NY. Baseball was important to her and if you asked for her favorite team, she would say New York!
Alma leaves behind her loving and devoted children; Mary Kay Van Valen (Ron), Patricia McTiernan (Rick), Gregory Melden (Disa), Susan Melden (Robert), and Margaret Sharpe (Al). Her eight grandchildren: Sean McTiernan, James McTiernan (Norine,) Marquette Dancy, Laura Sharpe, Kathleen Van Valen (Nick), James Sharpe, Marcelo Dancy and Benjamin Van Valen as well as her great-grandson Maxwell Pellum will miss her dearly.
At the request of the family, cremation services were handled privately under the direction of Middlesex Funeral Home. Please visit Alma’s interactive webpage at www.MiddlesexFuneralHome.com to send online condolences to the family.
