Funeral Services Set For Port Authority Officer From Wall

WALL, NJ -- Family and friends are mourning the death of Port Authority Police Officer Elise Bastardo, who died Friday of injuries suffered in a car crash earlier this month, according to her obituary.

Bastardo, 24, was injured when her Jeep hit a utility pole in Plumsted on Feb. 6, according to the Asbury Park Press.

She was a 2009 graduate of Wall High School, where she was an All-State field hockey player, according her obituary on the Orender Family Home for Funerals website. Bastardo graduated cum laude from Rutgers University in 2013 with a bachelor’s in psychology and criminal justice and a minor in criminology, and joined the Port Authority as a recruit in the Port Authority Police Academy’s 113th class, where she was a platoon leader. She was assigned to the command at Newark Liberty International Airport.

Bastardo was a member of the Port Authority Police Benevolent Association and a proud member of the Governor William Livingston Chapter, Spring Lake, New Jersey Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).

“Elise is remembered for her beautiful smile, adventurous spirit, and kind heart. She was loved and admired by her family and all who knew her. She enjoyed living life to its fullest each and every day, and inspired others to follow in her footsteps. Even in her death Elise’s generous nature will touch the lives of those that she helped through the donation of her organs through the Sharing Network,” her obituary notes.

She is survived by her parents, John and Susan Bastardo of Wall; her maternal grandmother, Helen Price of Wall; her sister, Amanda Reed and brother-in-law Ben Reed of Naples, Italy; her brother, John Bastardo of Wall; cousins Anthony of Stratford, Conn., and Peter Trapanese; her godmother (in confirmation) Mary Joan Renna and her husband Salvatore of Linden, and many other relatives and friends.

She is preceded in death by her grandparents, John and Anita Bastardo; her grandfather, Eugene H. Price, and her aunt, Diane Trapanese.

Visitation will be held Tuesday, Feb. 16 and Wednesday, Feb. 17 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Orender Family Home for Funerals, 2643 Old Bridge Road, Manasquan. Mass of Christian Burial will begin at 11 a.m. Thursday at St. Denis Roman Catholic Church, 90 Union Ave., Manasquan, with entombment to follow at St. Anne’s Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Port Authority PBA Widows and Children’s Fund, 611 Palisade Ave., Englewood Cliffs, N.J. 07362. To send condolences to the family or obtain directions to the funeral home please visit www.orenderfamilyhome.com.

(Elise Bastardo, via Port Authority Police Marine Corps Association Facebook page)