Obituary of Antonine (Nina) Slade

Antonine (Nina) Slade passed away on Saturday, January 28, 2023 at the age of 92, surrounded by loving family in Manalapan, NJ. Born Antonine Mary Ellert in Brooklyn, NY to parents Walter and Eleanor, she was a graduate of St. John’s University with a bachelor’s degree in Education. She married her husband, Edward Durner, and had two children, Edward and Alison. She taught at the Berkeley Carroll School and was licensed K-8 in New York state. Nina became a widow after five years of marriage and later remarried to Francis Xavier Slade in 1962. The couple relocated to northern Virginia for a year before returning back to Brooklyn. After welcoming two more children, Elizabeth and Mary, the family ultimately settled in Monmouth County, New Jersey. Nina returned to school and obtained a Master’s Degree in Special Education. She worked for Head Start in Asbury Park before joining the Manalapan Englishtown child study team where she stayed until she retired many years later. Nina was a devout Catholic who always believed strongly in the Church and its values, which she practiced in her daily living. She worshipped at St Gabriel’s Roman Catholic Church in Marlboro and taught Catechism dutifully for over twenty years, with which she took great pride and purpose. Nina was a loving wife, a wonderful mother and grandmother, a valued friend, and a good neighbor. She was respected and loved by all those who crossed her path who always left you with a kind word and a warm smile. She kept her home a happy and welcoming place to friends and family alike. She will be greatly missed by all who loved her and cannot be replaced, only modeled as a wonderful example of a life well-lived. Nina laid to rest her adoring husband of over 60 years, Frank Slade, in September 2022. She was predeceased by her parents Walter and Eleanor, her brother Walter, and her daughters Alison Burchett and Elizabeth Vimbor. She is survived by her son Edward Walsh; daughter Mary Mortellite and her husband, Alan; son-in-law Stuart Burchett; grandson Robert Jones III and his wife Meghan, great-grandchildren Piper and RJ; granddaughter Amy Burchett and her husband, Michael Gaither; grandson Alan Burchett and his wife, Jennifer; grandson Brad Burchett, great-grandchildren Jeremiah and Rayanna; a niece, Mary Katherine Fitzgerald, grand-nieces Tiffany Benamati and Ciara Collier and their families; and a nephew Eric Ellert. The viewing will be held at the Higgins Memorial Home, 20 Center Street, Freehold on Sunday, February 5th, from 1:00 to 4:00 P.M. A Funeral Mass will take place on Monday, February 6th at 11:00 A.M. at St. Gabriel’s Historic Church, 549 County Rd 520, in Marlboro, with burial immediately to follow.