Carole A. Merlo, 80, of Colonia, passed away peacefully on August 2, 2023.  The youngest of three children, Carole was born in Perth Amboy on January 18, 1943, to the late Joseph J. and Mary (n. Staruch) Breyta. Carole graduated from Perth Amboy High School in 1960 and Newark State College in 1964 with a degree in Elementary Education.  She was a member of the Lambda Chi Ro sorority and met her husband Vincent while a student in college.  They married shortly after graduation on November 21, 1964, and resided for 59 years in Colonia. Carole became a teacher at School 8 in Perth Amboy, where she taught 6th and 2nd grade prior to the birth of her children.

Above all else, Carole was an involved and devoted mother to her three daughters, Maryann, Janet, and Susan.  She spent most of her time involved in their school and extracurricular activities, volunteering with PTO groups, religious education, and sports clubs. Carole enjoyed watching her girls perform throughout the years in dance recitals, at sporting events, and in the theater.  Annual family vacations to Palm Coast, Florida, were something that she looked forward to each year, where she got to reconnect with her parents and unwind.  She enjoyed shopping on weekends and loved nothing more than finding a great bargain.  Carole became an avid Rutgers sports fan when her younger daughters attended, and she always cheered on the Scarlet Knights along with them.  She was a devoted parishioner at St. John Vianney Roman Catholic Church, where she also taught CCD and pre-Cana classes with Vincent for many years.

Carole will be missed dearly by all who knew her.  She was a lifelong teacher who always imparted life lessons long after her teaching days in the classroom ended.  She is survived by her husband of 58 years, Vincent Merlo, of Colonia; her daughter Maryann Chaudhry and her husband Amer, of Delran, NJ, and their children Javera and Hashim; her daughter Janet Cuccaro and her husband Frank, of Long Valley, NJ, and their children Elyse and Jonathan; and Susan Rivera and her husband Roberto, of Somerset, NJ.  She is also survived by several nephews, grandnephews and grandnieces, as well as her cousin, Barbara Buck, and her husband Roger.  She is predeceased by her parents, Joseph and Mary Breyta of Palm Coast, Florida; her brother Raymond Breyta and his wife Dorothy; and her brother Robert Breyta and his wife Valerie.

A visitation will be held on Tuesday, August 8, 2023, from 9:15am to 11:15am at the Flynn and Son Funeral Home, 23 Ford Ave. Fords, NJ.  A funeral liturgy will follow at St. John Vianney Roman Catholic Church at 12:00pm followed by entombment at St. Gertrude Cemetery Mausoleum in Colonia, NJ.