NAPLES — Laurel (Wislotski) Cebra, 81, after a three-year battle with Alzheimer’s and dementia, passed into her Loving Savior’s arms on Sunday, March 10, 2019.

She was born Nov. 4, 1937, in Passaic, N.J., to Michael and June (Kielbowicz) Wislotski of Garfield, N.J. 

She was predeceased by her parents, brother Michael Wislotski, husband John Cebra Jr. in 1982, and son Robert John Cebra in 1985. 

Laurel attended Garfield High School and then Newark State Teachers College, where she graduated in 1959 with a degree in teaching as well as speech therapy. She began her teaching carrier in 1959, where she taught in Paterson, N.J., public schools, and the Garfield N.J. public schools through the early 1960s. She spent most of her career in the Haledon, N.J. public school system, having taught an innovative class for the deaf for nearly a decade in the late 60s and 70s. She then finished her career in Haledon teaching the 4th grade until 1993. 

In her retirement she became an active member serving on the board of directors of multiple local historical societies. She also loved serving as a docent in several museums. She is a former board member of the National Labor Museum (the Botto House), as well as several societies and museums in N.J., and Maine. She also loved garden clubs, American Legion Auxiliary, the Lions Club, Ladies’ Golf leagues, Senior Bowling, and the Red Hat Ladies.

Laurel was an avid crafter. Her knitting and crocheting provided her with hours of enjoyment over the decades, and she would often have a table at local craft shows. She also loved making dried pressed flower arrangements, as well as watercolor painting, and she was a skilled calligrapher.

For more than 25 years, in the early 70s to the late 90s, the family had a seasonal campsite at Panther Lake in Andover, N.J., where she had made lifelong friends and developed her love for the game of golf. 

In her retirement she became a passionate advocate for the advancement of patriotism and respect for the American flag. She designed a curriculum and presentation that she would give every year, dressed in a Betsy Ross costume, for nearly a quarter century on Flag Day to grade school children. As a member of the American Legion Auxiliary, this effort earned her a national award from the American Legion for patriotism.

She had multiple friends that she had made over the years who moved to the Sarasota area in Florida, where she would go most winters for a couple of months and reconnect and play golf. 

Laurel was a born again Christian and was active in church membership her whole life. She was a member for 25 years and served on the Church Council at First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Clifton, N.J. As she moved with her son’s family from her hometown of Garfield, N.J., first to Wantage, N.J., then to Naples, Maine, throughout her life she rested in her abiding faith, and was active in the work of the church, wherever she lived.

She is survived by her son, The Hon. Richard M. Cebra and his wife Philippa; her grandchildren, Ian A. Cebra and his wife Sarah, and Rachel J. Cebra; and her great-grandson, Theodore L.K. Cebra, all of Naples.

Laurel specifically requested that there be no memorial services save for a private immediate family presence at her graveside upon interment at George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, N.J., which will occur at a later date.

Laurel requested that donations in her memory be made to whichever organization someone knew her from, or to your personal favorite charity. Online condolences may be left for the family at hallfuneralhome.net