"Senior of the Year 2019"

Washington Township Recreation has collected the nominees and is proud to recognize “Gertrude Zielensky” as our wonderful Senior Citizen of 2019! Gertrude is most known as Trudy and was quite surprised when she heard her name announced at our annual Holiday Luncheon at Black Oak Country Club this year.

Trudy was born in Dover and grew up in Rockaway Township. She graduated from Morris Hills Regional HS and then Douglas College; becoming an Elementary school teacher for thirty-eight years, with thirty-five years in the Dover school system.

Trudy married Ron in 1966, and has just recently celebrated their fifty-second anniversary the day after Christmas. Except for the five years of Ron’s Air Force service they have been Morris County residents their whole lives.

After finding a beautiful piece of property on Schooley’s Mountain, Ron and Trudy designed and built their dream home which consists of two geodesic domes joined together. They moved into their home in 1982 and in 1999 it was part of the Historical Society’s House Tour (billed as the “Historical House of the Future!”)

The Zielensky home has been the site of more than thirty Labor Day family picnics and numerous other family celebrations; enjoying their many nieces and nephews and their families. On many of those family occasions Trudy has been known to write a humorous poem of tribute to the honoree.

Trudy retired in 2005, and got involved in many activities here in our town. She is part of a Scrabble group, a Mah Jong group, Healthy Bones exercise group, and Yoga group that all meet weekly at WT Senior Center. Trudy also enjoys going on the trips and the luncheons that are sponsored by our Recreation Department. As a matter of fact she is one of our biggest recruiters to get people to attend the events. She is part of a Red Hat Society group, Boost Your Mind Group, and a Dominoes group.

Trudy is a Lector and parishioner of Our Lady of the Mountain Catholic Church. She is a member of the Friends of the Library, where she is involved with the Hospitality committee. Trudy truly feels so fortunate to have a great library in town because there are so many fine activities offered each month! Especially the Lifetime Learning courses each Spring and Fall that she is part of!

Overall, Trudy and Ron are very glad they moved to Washington Township because they feel it’s a wonderful place to live! And, she stressed how grateful she is to be chosen for this honor!