Jill (nee Lateko) Watanabe

Jill Watanabe (née Lateko), 65, of Haddon Township, NJ (formerly Westfield, NJ) passed away peacefully surrounded by family on September 27, 2020.

Jill was born in Palembang, Indonesia, and raised in Bandung. She moved to the U.S. to attend college and eventually settled in Westfield, NJ where she raised her children, Nari and Marisa, during which time she also met her fiancée, Jack Campbell.  She received a Masters of Science in Analytical Chemistry which helped her build a successful career at Schering-Plough (later acquired by Merck). She retired on August 31, 2020, after dedicating many years as a Quality Control Specialist.            

Jill is survived by her children, Narihiko Watanabe (fiancée Suzanna Ho) and Marisa Watanabe (Ethan Quanci); mother, Lennie Lateko; fiancée Jack Campbell; siblings, Jay and Annie Lateko, Jira and Bing Tjoa, and Jessa and Tom Chirichella; nieces and nephews, Kevin, Hieu, and Hana Lateko; Jason Lateko; Karensa Tjoa; Andrew Tjoa; Patrick Chirichella; Ryan Chirichella; and Thomas Chirichella.

To honor Jill Watanabe, the Lateko-Watanabe family will be hosting a memorial service on Sunday, October 4th at 1pm EST at the Reformed Church of Highland Park (19 S. 2nd Avenue, Highland Park, NJ 08904).

The memorial service will open for in-person attendance with social distancing. If you plan to attend, please let us know in advance (honoring.JillLatekoWatanabe@gmail.com) so we can plan accordingly to maintain safety standards.

If you would like to join virtually, we will also live stream the memorial on Facebook. You can find more information and stay updated by following the Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/948945532181454).

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to either of the following:

Reformed Church of Highland Park (https://www.rchighlandpark.org/)

• Jill cared deeply for the hungry and spent a lot of time cooking and distributing food to the homeless. In honor of her passion to help feed others, any donations made to RCHP in her name will be utilized to their Global Grace Cafe which helps provide hot food to those in need.

American Cancer Society (https://charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/honoring-jill-lateko-watanabe).

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Jill (nee Lateko) Watanabe, please visit our floral store.