Dr. Margaret S. Brisco

Dr. Margaret S. Brisco, 98, of Essex Fells, passed away Thursday June 8, 2023. Born in Trieste, Italy, Dr. Brisco graduated from Facolta di Medicina e Chirurgia in Padova, Italy. She came to Newark as an intern in 1957 and went on to practice obstetrics and gynecology in Newark, Belleville and Nutley for 36 years. She was a pioneer at a time when few women became physicians and even fewer undertook specialties involving surgery.  She served as Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Dentistry and Medicine of New Jersey in the 1970s.  Dr. Brisco served as director of obstetrics and gynecology at Clara Maass Hospital in Belleville for two terms and was also on staff at Mountainside Hospital in Glen Ridge.  In 2006 she was honored by the New Jersey Medical Society’s Golden Merit Award for her distinguished service as a physician having delivered over 6,000 babies. After retiring from medicine in 1996, Dr. Brisco devoted her time to writing stories of which she drew inspiration from her experiences as a physician as well as exploring the challenges facing women. Her first book, “Women in Transition,” was published in 2004 and was chosen by the New Jersey Center for the Book as a book of note by a New Jersey author for the decade 1995 to 2006. She has also written three other books, “Metamorphoses: The Stories She May Tell,” “Childbirth, A Unique Experience,” and “The Way It Was: Memories of a Woman Doctor,”

Dr. Brisco was a faithful and active member at First Lutheran Church in Clifton.

Dr. Brisco was predeceased by her parents, Mark and Anna Brisco; her sister, Maria Brisco; and her brother, Jerry Brisco.   

Survivors include: her devoted children, Annamaria Stefanelli-Angelicola and her husband, Rory and Ralph C. Stefanelli; and two grandchildren, Christen Stefanelli and Mark Stefanelli.

Memorial visitation will be held Sunday, June 11, 2023 from 2:00 to 6:00 pm at Bizub-Quinlan Funeral Home, 1313 Van Houten Avenue, Clifton. The funeral service will be held Monday, June 12, 2023 at 10:00 am at First Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1337 Van Houten Avenue, Clifton. Burial of ashes to follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in East Hanover. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Alzheimer’s New Jersey, 425 Eagle Rock Avenue, Roseland, NJ 07068 (www.alznj.org). Visit www.bizubquinlan.com to leave condolences to the family on the Tribute Wall section of the obituary.

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