Priscilla A. Jenkins

Priscilla A. (Szabo) Jenkins, 90, of Avenel, NJ, passed peacefully, surrounded by family, on Saturday, August 1, 2026.

She was born in her grandparents’ home on Oakland Avenue in the Keasbey section of Woodbridge Twp., on January 25, 1936, and grew up in Hopelawn. She lived on School Street in Woodbridge proper most of her adult life, and had resided in the Avenel section of Woodbridge Twp. for the last 12 years.

Priscilla was a graduate of Woodbridge High School, with the Class of 1953, and proudly shared the story of how she was selected to sing a solo at graduation and conduct the entire class in the singing of the alma mater. Singing was a huge part of her life, beginning in her sophomore year of high school. She took voice, acting, and dance lessons in New Brunswick, NJ, and New York City for many years and performed on television for a few years under the stage name Priscilla Taylor. She loved to share stories about how she sang weekly on Channel 13, especially in children’s shows like “The Merry Mailman.” She also sang in nightclubs, at many social events, and at the Newark Opera House, and danced with her teacher often as well. In 1954, she was a contestant in the first Miss Middlesex County contest, which was a preliminary to the Miss America contest! She also worked during the day for attorneys in Perth Amboy. It was around this time that her agent in NYC, who was always calling with job offers that she would turn down in places as varied as Germany and Virginia summer stock theater, told her he would stop calling because “her heart was not in the theater.” She had met Bob Jenkins, and didn’t want to be away from him, and she was enjoying her work in the legal field.

She and Bob married on May 25, 1957, and they raised 4 children together in the house on School Street. Family was everything to this beloved matriarch, and she regularly bragged about her children and grandchildren to her friends. Priscilla served as secretary and then president of the PTOs in all of the schools her children attended and was secretary of the WHS Band Parents when their daughter Cathy played in the band. She and Bob enjoyed traveling together, driving across the country many times with the children in their station wagon, and flying to Las Vegas twice a year in their later years. Priscilla also traveled to Europe several times with her daughters Cathy and Helen.

Over the years, she sold jewelry at home parties with Sarah Coventry, held various retail positions, and sold real estate with Elek Realty in Woodbridge. She retired at the age of 82 after being employed for over 55 years as a legal secretary, most recently with attorney John DeNoia in Woodbridge, NJ (since 1981). Since then, she has spent much of her free time as her church historian, writing stories to help preserve the church’s traditions for future generations.

She was a pillar and long-time, dedicated member of the Magyar Reformed Church in Perth Amboy for her entire life. Her church family, especially her “coffee group” that she sat with every week during coffee hour, was so important to her. She was a long-time choir member who was asked to sing at many weddings (including her daughters’ weddings), served on the Church Council for many years, and was president of the Women’s Guild for more than 10 years. She was very proud of her family’s long history in the church and could be counted on to be sitting in her pew every Sunday, leading the hymn-singing long after the choir had disbanded.

Priscilla was predeceased by her beloved parents, John and Helen (Futo) Szabo; her siblings Elsie Loki, Susan Kovacs, and John G. Szabo; and her husband, Robert R. Jenkins, Sr., who died in 2015.

She leaves behind her three daughters: Priscilla Benfield and her husband Joseph, of Avenel; Cathy Szucs of Erwin, TN; and Helen Castro of Avenel; her son, Robert R. Jenkins, Jr. (“Bob”) and his wife Kim, of Howell; her 11 grandchildren: Jacqueline Mann, Melanie Bratton and her husband Shaun, Vicky Seijo and her husband Alex, Anthony Mann Jr. and his partner Lily, Emmi Mann, Jessica S. Grindstaff, Matthew Szucs, Steven Szucs, Sarah Schindo and her husband Ryan, Bobby Jenkins, and Alex Jenkins; “bonus granddaughter” Brookelynn Castro; and 3 great-grandsons: Captain Bratton, Sequoia Bratton, and Xavier Seijo. Also surviving are many nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, from 5 pm until 8 pm at the Flynn and Son / Mitruska Funeral Home, 23 Ford Ave., Fords, NJ 08863.

Funeral services will be held on Wednesday morning, August 5, 2026, at 10 a.m. at the Hungarian Reformed Church, 331 Kirkland Place, Perth Amboy, NJ 08861.

Interment will follow in the Calvary Cemetery in Hopelawn.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in her memory to the Children’s Hospital at St. Peter’s University Hospital (www.saintpetershcs.com/donate).