Sara Nugent Grzenda, 62, of South Plainfield, New Jersey, passed away in the early morning hours of April 17, 2026, following an unexpected cancer diagnosis. 

Born in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1963, she was raised in South Plainfield, where she would spend much of her life. She graduated from South Plainfield High School in 1981 and went on to earn a degree in Psychology from the University of Delaware in 1985. Though she would never say it herself, she was deeply committed to serving others; she furthered her education at Kean College, where she earned a Master of Arts in Educational Psychology in 1989, while simultaneously working at Keystone Community Living, a home for adults with intellectual disabilities. She worked in the NJ school system for the remainder of her career, with the majority of that time spent serving as the School Psychologist at Whitehouse School on the Readington Township Child Study Team.

She is survived by her husband of 37 years, Paul Grzenda; her son, Steven Grzenda and his wife Christina, and their children Juliana and Emmy; her son, Michael Grzenda and his wife Attalie, and their daughter Valeria; her mother, Helen Nugent; and her siblings, Joan, John, Michael, Megan, and Beth. She was preceded in death by her father, Jack Nugent, and her sister, Kathy.

Sara’s deepest passion was always children, and she loved to watch them learn and develop. She was constantly inventing games, and if she could get a bored or shy child engaged in a new activity, she had won. If you truly want to honor her memory, read to your child every day. 

The children in her life felt this love deeply, including her own children, her nieces and nephews, their children, and her own grandchildren. She went out of her way to build and maintain a special relationship with all of them. If you were in Sara’s orbit, you were well-fed, checked-in on, and you knew how to ride a boogie board. 

She was a curator of beautiful things, a habit she learned from her mother; she filled her home with plants, and she loved to go to estate sales and Unique. She always shopped with others in mind, looking for the perfect gift or treasure. She was a dedicated cook and baker, with an iconic spaghetti sauce, and a specialty in soups. For every hour she spent cooking for herself, she probably spent two hours making food for others. She was the youngest of seven siblings. She loved Seinfeld and Malcolm in the Middle. She played nearly every single Wordle. The two great dogs of her life were Sam and Josie. 

In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that memorial donations be made to the Friends of the South Plainfield Public Library [LINK].