Winifred Woods Gulyas

Winifred Woods Gulyas (“Winnie”), 90, of Cresskill, NJ, died Monday, May 2, 2022, and went home to be with her Lord and Savior. Winifred was born Winifred Elizabeth Woods on Aug. 21, 1931, in Charleston, WV, to Ralph Davis Woods, and the former Charlotte Elizabeth Basham. Winifred grew up in Charleston, where she was active in the Baptist Temple and led a Girl Scout troop. She attended Wayland Academy in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, and graduated from Denison University in Granville, OH, where she majored in Philosophy and was active in theatre design. Winifred was adventurous and always interested in other peoples and cultures. A European tour after college graduation made her keen for travel. She soon returned to Europe and lived and worked in Scandinavia for several years. She especially loved Denmark and its people. Upon her return to the states, she met Stephen Gulyas, a Hungarian engineer who had emigrated to the states after the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. The couple fell in love and married. Winifred embraced her husband’s culture, and eventually taught herself to speak fluent Hungarian. The couple moved to New York City, and later settled in New Jersey, where they raised their two daughters. Winifred was a lifelong learner and enthusiastic volunteer. While living in Tenafly, she was involved in local educational and environmental issues, including the successful “Green Acres” fight to preserve undeveloped town land, and a girl scout leader. She returned to school in her 40s, attending Montclair State College and the Art Students League in New York, and earned a teaching certificate in art. She taught art at several area schools, and her love of different languages and culture led her to study and later teach English as a Second Language (ESL), as well. Winifred loved people, and was unfailingly kind. She made no distinctions between people, and had warmth for and interest in everyone. She celebrated her West Virginia roots, and returned to visit family and local music festivals when she could. Winifred was a longtime enthusiastic member of the Englewood Baptist Church in Englewood NJ. Beloved wife, mother, grandmother, cousin, friend, Winifred is survived by her husband, Stephen (Steve) Gulyas of Cresskill, NJ; daughter Winifred Gyongyi Gulyas of Darien, CT; daughter Melinda (& Allen) Dugan of Ambler, PA; and grandchildren Anna Elizabeth (Liza) and Steven (Vanya) Dugan, also of Ambler, PA. Visitation on Tuesday, May 10, from 4-6PM followed by a funeral service at 6PM at Barrett Leber Funeral Home in Tenafly, NJ. Burial will be at the I.O.O.F. Cemetery in Harrisville, WV.