Arlene Marie Nemeth Stec, 98, of Edison, passed away at home surrounded by loved ones on Sunday, June 7, 2026.

The daughter of the late Emma Bartha Nemeth and Bernard (Bundy) Nemeth, she was born in Perth Amboy and resided in Edison for the past 66 years.

Arlene was a graduate of Woodbridge High School and received a B.A. degree in Psychology and Sociology from Bucknell University, Lewisberg, PA, where she met and married Edward, her husband of 55 years.

She was employed as a psychometrician at the Bucknell Testing and Counseling Service and at the Guidance Center on the campus at Rutgers University, New Brunswick. She also worked as a policy underwriter for the Continental Insurance Company, Newark. She was a guidance officer in the Herbert Hoover Middle School, Edison, and a free-lance writer for the Office of Communications, Diocese of Metuchen.

As a communicant of Our Lady of Peace R.C. Church, Fords, Arlene was active as a parish and diocesan volunteer. She has been a Lector for fifty years and served as president of the Parish Council and as chairperson of the parish carnival. She was also a member of the choir, the liturgy committee, and the R.C.I.A team.

For the Diocese of Trenton, Arlene was a parish delegate to the Board of the Trenton Pastoral Council and a member of the Commission for Pastoral Renewal.

For the Diocese of Metuchen, Arlene was appointed to the Bishop’s Liason Committee for Transition and Diosesan Organization and served on the Diocesan Commission for Evangelization.

A member of the National Council of Catholic Women, Alene was a Charter Member of the Metuchen Diocesan Council of Catholic Women. She participated in the Survey of Concerns of Women for the American Bishops’ Pastoral Letter on “The Role of Women in the Church” and wrote several articles for a national Catholic magazine on women’s concerns.

Arlene was a member of the American Association of University Women and also of Bucknell University Alumni Club.

She was predeceased by her husband, Edward, in 2004, and by her daughter Emily Jane, in 1969, for whom a memorial scholarship was established at Bucknell.

Arlene is survived by a nephew, Frank Sarzyniak, and a great-niece, Jennifer Sarzyniak. Other survivors are cousins: Jean Bartha Duggen, Sally Sofield Gattuso and Barbara Nemeth Bagdi.

Visitation will be held on Friday, June 12, from 4-8 pm at the Flynn & Son Mitruska Funeral Home, 23 Ford Avenue, Fords, NJ 08863. Funeral Services will begin Saturday, June 13, 2026, at 10:00 am at the funeral home. A Funeral Liturgy will follow at 10:30 am in Our Lady of Peace Church. Interment will be in St. Gertrude’s Cemetery, Colonia.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are requested to the Emily Jane Stec Memorial Scholarship, Bucknell University, Lewisberg, PA. or to ST. Joseph Senior Residence Woodbridge, NJ.