Alice E. Swarts of Wantage passed away on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, at her home. She was 94.
Born in Vernon on May 27, 1930, to John and Violet (De Groat) Elston, Alice lived in the Sussex-Wantage area all of her life.
She attended a one-room schoolhouse in Lake Pochuck and graduated from Sussex High School in 1947.
She worked at many restaurants throughout the Sussex-Wantage area and also at the Officer’s Club at Picatinny Arsenal.
Alice, along with her late husband, Frank, were known for their cooking and catered many affairs throughout the county and eventually ran Alice’s Airport Diner together for several years.
They also volunteered to cook for various organizations and were best known for running the Sussex Kiwanis trailer at the Sussex County Farm and Horse Show, the Sussex Air Show and other local events.
Besides her parents, she was predeceased by her husband of 72 years, Frank S. Swarts, on Jan. 12, 2022; her brothers, John Elston in 1982, Gerald Elston in 1992 and Donald “Pete” Elston in 2013.
Alice is survived by her two sons, Frank E. Swarts of Wantage and John Swarts and his companion Shelley “Chi Chi” Lewis of Wantage; her two daughters, Galeen Swarts and her wife Debra Pollard of Byram and Jody Swarts of Brewster, Mass.; eight grandchildren; six great-grandchildren, and one of her closest friends, Kathy Belmonte of Massachusetts.
Friends are invited to join the family for a memorial graveside service at 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 18 at Clove Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial donation in Alice’s memory to Sussex Kiwanis, P.O. Box 363, Sussex, NJ 07461 or American Legion Post 213, P.O. Box 447, Sussex, NJ 07461.
Online condolences may be offered to the family at www.pinkelfuneralhome.com