Regina Bernadette Sax (née Ryan) entered into eternal life on June 20, 2025. She was 91.
She was born May 10, 1934, in Baltimore, the youngest child of Grace Bernadette (née Ryan) and Robert Lawrence Ryan.
The Brooklyn-based Ryan family was in Baltimore at that time because Regina’s father had found work there during the Depression. Robert tragically passed two months after her birth, and within days, the family moved back to Brooklyn.
Known as Jeanne in her early years, Regina admitted being spoiled relentlessly by family and their friends. Despite challenging circumstances without her father and when both brothers served overseas during World War II, she enjoyed a happy childhood in Brooklyn, where the friendships made were truly lifelong.
After attending St. Theresa of Avila Grammar School, Regina graduated from Catherine McAuley High School in 1952.
She then worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for Paul Volcker Jr. and Madeline McWhinney Dale. Regina often recalled their extreme kindness after her mother’s sudden passing in 1961.
She was considered an “old maid” when, at age 32, Regina finally met her match, George J. Sax, and quickly married him in 1966 - even though he was from the Bronx (but he was Catholic, had “very broad shoulders” and wisely agreed to live in Bay Ridge).
In the early ’70s, they made for the New Jersey suburbs to raise their three children, first to Hopatcong, then to Sparta’s Lake Mohawk. Living in “the country” forced Regina to finally get her driver’s license at the age of 39 which may have taken more than one attempt.
She was a very active parishioner and volunteer at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church in Sparta, serving over the years as a CCD teacher, Eucharistic minister during Mass and to the homebound, and as a member of the Arimathea Group.
Regina and George eventually moved to Maryland to be closer to their children and grandchildren.
Predeceased by her husband in 2017, Regina was living in Edgewater, Md., at the time of her passing.
She was known for her very strong New York accent, lacking a filter, telling wild stories, and her love of big band and Irish music, singing, dancing, romance novels, British mysteries, Korean dramas and plain Lays potato chips.
In addition to her husband, Regina was undoubtedly met at Heaven’s Gates by her parents and siblings, Lawrence, Eileen and Robert, as well as her grandson Christopher.
She is missed by her children, Gracemarie (Manning Thomas Jeter IV), George L. (Beth) and Liz; grandchildren, Alexis, Liam, Brigid, Emma, Keara, Erin, Aislinn, Rory and Aileen; son-in-law, James R. Loring; and many nieces, nephews and godchildren.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Roman Catholic Church in Edgewater on Saturday, June 28 at 11:30 a.m. A private interment will take place at a later date.