Laura E. Grzanka passed away on December 24th, 2024 at the age of 58.
Laura was born in Glen Ridge, NJ on December 29th, 1965 to John Chavanne and Carole Karsen. A lifelong New Jersey resident, she was raised in Saddle Brook and Montville, earning her B.S. in Industrial Engineering and her MBA in Marketing from Rutgers University.
Laura worked for JCP&L where she met her husband, Richard Grzanka. Laura and Rich were married in Bernardsville on May 16th, 1993 and established their family in Mendham, with children Andrew and Ashe. Laura went on to have a long and successful career at Avaya as the Global Lead of Digital Marketing.
Family and friends will remember Laura’s passion for music and her beautiful voice. She was a longtime active member of Hilltop Presbyterian Church in Mendham where she sang in the choir. Laura was also an avid member The Skylands Songwriters Guild of Northwest New Jersey through which she showcased her self-composed pieces of music. Throughout her life Laura had the honor of singing at iconic venues including Carnegie Hall and The Stone Pony. A collection of her music and performances will be available at https://lauragrzanka.com/.
Laura loved the beach, never turning down the chance to enjoy the sun and sand at the Jersey Shore, in the Florida Keys, and Cape Cod, MA. No matter the weather or season, the beach was always her happy place.
Laura was diagnosed in August of 2019 with stage 3 Colorectal Cancer, which advanced to Stage 4 in 2020. She completed 53 rounds of chemotherapy and had 5 major surgeries, including an ileostomy until passing in December of 2024.
Laura was a kind and giving soul, with a determination to live & enjoy life to the fullest and is an inspiration to us all.
Laura and her family found support and connection in PALTOWN’s online community for colorectal cancer patients and caregivers, COLONTOWN. The family requests that donations be sent to PALTOWN to support its many programs for patients and caregivers.
