Obituary of Jessie Brandes

BRANDES, Jessie (nee Kingma), 99, was received by her Heavenly Father and entered peacefully into eternal rest on Sunday, January 1, 2017. She was one of ten children born to the late John and Vinie Kingma. She grew up in Prospect Park and married Edward Brandes in 1940. After bearing two sons, they moved to Hawthorne, where their daughter was born. They later retired to Toms River. Following her husband's death in 1996, Jessie became a resident of the Holland Christian Home in 2001 where she resided until her passing. Jessie held various jobs throughout her life working as a sales person in numerous bakeries. She was also a skilled seamstress making many of her clothes and those of her young children. Jessie was an excellent cook, who enjoyed entertaining and serving luscious homemade desserts. But her grandest job was that of homemaker, providing a warm, loving, and inviting atmosphere for her husband and children and later her grandchildren. Jessie was a devout Christian all her life. Her strong faith was evident in the caring she showed her family and friends. She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She was a long-time member of the Ridgewood Christian Reformed Church. She will be greatly missed by all her family and friends, who will always remember the twinkle in her bright blue eyes and her love for a hot cup of coffee. Jessie is survived by her children: Edward and Carole Brandes of Punta Gorda, FL; James and Sally Brandes of Ridgewood; and Valerie and Charlie Perwas of Mahwah. She is also survived by her granddaughters: Pamela (Ravi Dharwadkar) Brandes, Melissa (Daniel Erickson) Brandes, Jennifer (Brendan) Burns, Lori (Andrew Bernstein) Brandes, Allison (Walter) Richardson and Lauren Perwas; great-grandchildren Anders and Senja Erickson and Annika Dharwadkar. The Brandes family will receive friends on Thursday 2:00 until 4:00 and 7:00 until 9:00 PM at the Vander Plaat Funeral Home (www.vpfh.com), 257 Godwin Avenue, Wyckoff. Funeral services will be held Friday 10:30 AM at the funeral home followed by interment at the Fair Lawn Memorial Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to The Ridgewood Christian Reformed Church, 271 Lincoln Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450 or the Holland Christian Home Foundation, 151 Graham Avenue, North Haledon, NJ 07508.