Wanda Lavender

1923-2025

Wanda Lavender (nee Kinzel), previously of Chatham, N.J. and Bayonne, N.J., went to be with the Lord on Dec. 27, 2025, at the age of 102. Wanda was born at home on Christmas day 1923 in Wellsville, Ohio. Her father placed her under the Christmas tree as a gift to her older sister Natalie. Wanda attended Wellsville High School where she was a cheerleader for the Wellsville Tigers. Wanda always made it back home to Wellsville every August to visit her family and for 75 years she never missed the Wilroy Thomas Family Annual Reunion in honor of her grandfather.

Shortly after graduating high school in 1942, Wanda attended the Youngstown School of Nursing in Ohio where she became a Registered Nurse in 1945. In 1946 she moved to Jersey City, N.J., where she worked as a maternity nurse. That same year she met and married her husband of 53 years, Dr. James Lavender. Wanda rose to the level of Head Nurse and eventually the Assistant Director of Nursing at the Margaret Hague Maternity Hospital in Jersey City, one of the largest and busiest maternity hospitals in the United States at the time.

From the late 1960s to the early 1970s, Wanda attended Jersey City State College at night to earn her B.A in Health Education and M.A. in Health Sciences Administration. She later served as the Director of Education at the Jersey City Medical Center from 1980 until her retirement in 1989 and was named the Chairwoman of the Hudson County Council of Nursing Education in 1982.

To stay busy in retirement, Wanda worked as tax preparer and was a familiar face at H&R Block in Bayonne for many years to follow. Wanda was especially active in the Order of the Easter Star where she had many friends and had the opportunity to travel on OES trips along with her sister. Finally, Wanda was most of all devoted to her church family at the Chatham Church of Christ which she attended with her family since the late 1960s.

Wanda was predeceased by her husband James (1999), her brother Leonard (1969), her sister Natalie (2020), and her son-in-law Stephen Domyan (2022). She is survived by her daughter Nancy Domyan and her daughter Elise; her son Mark and his sons Caleb and Kyle; her son Scott and his wife Joanne along with their children James, Leah, Martina, Raymond, and Catherine; and her daughter Amy.

Visitation will be held at the Martin Chapel of Care Funeral & Cremation in Calcutta on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026 from 2 to 4 p.m. The funeral will be held at the Martin Chapel on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026 at 11 a.m. with Pastor Will Montgomery of St Clair Avenue Church of Christ officiating. Wanda will be laid to rest in Spring Hill Cemetery

In lieu of flowers the family asks that you consider a donation to the New Jersey League For Nursing, an organization dedicated to excellence in nursing education, a vocation so dear to Wanda’s heart. https://njln.org or by clicking the “DONATE” button on Wanda’s obituary page at www.carechapel.com.

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