Emily Ann 'Jazzy' Wingert, creator of Trumpets jazz club, dies
Emily Ann ‘Jazzy’ Wingert
Emily Ann "Jazzy" Wingert, 80, a longtime resident of Montclair and Little Falls, died suddenly on Aug. 15.
Emily was born in New York City to Babette "Betsy"(Vogel) and Edgar Peierls on Nov. 24, 1934.
She went to high school at House in the Pines in Massachusetts, and graduated in 1952. She attended Cornell University and completed her degree in art history at Columbia University.
In the early 1970s, as the owner and CEO of Mark Ten Security in Montclair, she became one of New Jersey’s first female licensed private detectives. In 1988, she followed her passion for jazz and fine dining and created Trumpets, a jazz club and restaurant in Montclair. She received an award for the restoration of the building and created a jazz education program for children.
After 10 years, she sold Trumpets following a sudden and total hearing loss. Adjusting to her deafness, she joined an online discussion group known as the "Say What Club." This organization became her new passion, and she helped lead a group of people who felt isolated into a community. As an early adopter of the Internet, Emily found that she could talk to people and regain some of the connectivity she had lost with her hearing.
Among Emily’s interests were her signature nail art and her love of convertibles.
Emily is survived by her siblings, Barbara (Peierls) Cohn, E. Jeffrey Peierls, and Brian E. Peierls; her children, Laura (Shelton) Jones and her husband, James Jones, Edward "Woody" Shelton, and his wife, Diane Shelton, and William "Will" Wingert; her grandchildren, Derald Brenneman, Dana (Shelton) Wahrsager, and her husband, Aaron Wahrsager, Jacqueline Brenneman, and her husband, Krys Usack, Katherine Shelton, Samantha Brenneman, Tanya (Jones) Thompson, and her husband, Sam Thompson, Adam Lewicki and Elizabeth Wingert; and great-grandchildren, Sadie Brenneman and Madison Wahrsager.
A "Jazzy Jamboree" in celebration of her life will be held on Sept. 19 at 2 p.m. at the Kasser Theater located on the campus of Montclair State University. Additional details will be available via Hugh M. Moriarty Funeral Home’s webpage, www.moriartyfh.com.
Memorial donations may be made to Say What Club, c/o Jack Nichols, P.O. Box 5066, Central Point, OR, 97502-0044.
