Tracy Marie Brewington

Tracy Marie Brewington was born on November 4, 1962, to John David Brewington, Sr. and Louise Taylor Brewington in Glen Ridge, New Jersey.  She was the first of their two children. 

Tracy was born, raised and educated in Montclair, and graduated from Montclair High School in 1980.  She left in the fall to attend Hampton Institute (now University) in Virginia, her father's alma mater. After her time at Hampton, with additional coursework completed at Katherine Gibbs Professional School back in Montclair, Tracy completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in Humanities at Montclair State College (now University).  She worked at both Metropolitan Insurance and Dun & Bradstreet, both in Newark, before realizing "business" was not her thing and decided to return to teaching, as her mother had done.  Tracy was hired by the East Orange Board of Education, where she taught kindergarten for 12 years, until illness forced her to take an early retirement.

Tracy was an avid piano player who began twinkling the keys at age 6.  She was active in several school plays as a youth, a major achievement for an admittedly shy kid.  She joined Union Baptist Church at age 12, after several years of attending Sunday School where her Mom taught and watching her Dad serve as head of its Trustee Board.  She also sang in Union's William H. Gray youth choir.  She would later come to attend services at Trinity Presbyterian Church, where she sang in the choir for several years.  

One of Tracy's greatest joys in life was our annual family trip to visit relatives "down south" in Virginia and North Carolina.  Over the course of 25 years, until the loss of our Father, it would be Tracy who memorized all the highways, knew how long each leg of the trip would take, and was always smart enough to bring her favorite pillow to sleep on.  Her love of seafood and her best memories of life, famly, summers, the beach and her doting older cousins were firmly established on these trips, and she longed to return even as life happened.  

Tracy was preceded in death by her loving father, John David Sr.  She is survived by her devoted mother, Louise, and her younger brother, John David Jr.  In addition, she leaves behind her favorite godsister Ms. Terri Leach-Coleman; her closest friends from Montclair, her various schools, her life as a teacher, and yes, her Facebook community; and the tens of cousins and relatives she adored as the result of her 18 aunts and uncles (and their spouses), of which just two remain with us, Edith Mae Cosby and Julia Taylor, both of Virginia.

Tracy will be remembered as shy, generous, cantankerous at times but loyal ALWAYS. 

We have missed her for a week - and will miss her even more the next, but knowing she is pain-free, at peace, and waiting patiently with Dad gives us comfort.         



 

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