Charlene H. Costaris

 Charlene Costaris died on October 14, 2022, at the age of 78 years, after dealing for 6 years with slow-growing ovarian cancer.  It was slow, but it was thorough.
Charlene was born to Vernon and Paulina Holler in Little River, Kansas.  She grew up with her sisters Carolyn (Alstatt Martin) and Verna (Urbanski) on a wheat and cattle farm smack in the middle of Kansas.  It was an unusual childhood even for the 1950's.  Home was a farmhouse at the end of a long road over the pasture hills and into the valley.  There was no electricity, telephone or running water in the early years.  Not many people today have memories of carrying wood to fuel a popped belly stove for heat or of going to a meat locker in town to retrieve beef or visiting neighbors on Saturday night to play cards or watch magical new television.
Charlene went from a one-room schoolhouse to being high school salutatorian, graduating cum laude from Kansas Wesleyan University and earning two master's degrees from Rutgers University (elementary education and genetics).  After teaching second grade for five years, she returned to her agrarian roots and became a county agricultural agent with Rutgers Cooperative Extension.  She served as a horticulture agent in Atlantic County for 20 years, establishing innovative educational programs in landscape maintenance, greenhouse practices and home horticulture.  She later served as a Horticulture Consultant for Ocean Cooperative Extension.  She served on the Board of Supervisors of the Ocean County Soil Conservation District for 18 years.  She also served on the Ocean County Shade Tree Commission.
When a graduate student at Rutgers, Charlene met and married her best friend, Michael Costaris.  After 43 years of laughing together, Mike died in 2010.  Charlene and Mike became an integral part of their community of Barnegat, New Jersey, where they were pillars of the Barnegat Historical Society.  Charlene served on the Shade Tree Commission for over 40 years and was a co-founder of the Barnegat Garden Club.
Charlene will be missed by her much-loved sister, Verna (Atlantic Beach, FL) and by her dear sister-in-law, Connie Smith (Brick, NJ). She is also survived by nieces and nephews, Kathleen Alstatt (Seattle, WA); Christopher (Lori) Alstatt (Marquette, KS); Michael (Janis) Alstatt (Hutchinson, KS); Jennifer (James) Cokeley (Lindsborg, KS); David (Marie and Natalia) Smith (Brick, NJ) and Stephen Costaris (PA); many cousins and dear friends and co-workers.
A gathering of friends and family will be held October 30, 2022 at the home of Alex Bolen, 106 Railroad Ave., Barnegat, NJ, 2-5 pm.
Donations in Charlene's name can be made to the Barnegat Historical Society, 106 Railroad Ave, Barnegat, NJ 08005

(www.BarnegatFH.com) 

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