Edward Parze wasn’t sure whether his family would be putting thousands of Christmas lights on their Freehold home this year, a three-decades old tradition.
He and his wife are still coping with the loss of their daughter Stephanie Parze, a 25-year-old nanny who was killed by her boyfriend last October. And the holidays tend to be the toughest time without her, Edward Parze said.
But they decided to bring back the festive display this year in honor of their daughter.
“It’s what Stephanie would want us to do... so we went out and did them,” said Edward Parze.
The display outside the Route 33 home is composed of 80,000 tiny lights, Parze said, and they began assembling it in the beginning of November. Each night, at 5:30 p.m., they are timed to turn on.
Helping with the set up were some of Stephanie’s Angels, the name the Parze family gave to the group of hundreds of volunteers who spent months searching fields in Middlesex and Monmouth counties for Stephanie after she went missing. Her body was found last February by two teenage boys walking along the side of Route 9 in a grassy area.
“I had a little bit of help this year,” Parze said.
Friday, December 11, 2020 - Edward and Sharlene Parze's daughter Stephanie was killed last year by her ex-boyfriend. Her family was known in Freehold for their huge Christmas light display, which they didn't put up last year while the search for Stephanie was going on. They decided to keep the tradition going this year for Stephanie. Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
This year, the memory of Stephanie is visible throughout the display.
A large wooden sign with Stephanie’s photo and the words “#RememberMe” is illuminated on the property. At the foot of the driveway sits a donation box for the Stephanie Nicole Parze Foundation, a nonprofit to help missing persons and victims of domestic violence.
Stephanie Parze was a makeup artist who graduated from the duCret Art School in Plainfield and the Robert Fiance Beauty School in Perth Amboy. She became a licensed cosmetologist in 2013 with hopes of becoming a movie makeup artist.
Ed Parze joked that his daughter never helped set up the lights, but loved the extravagant, final product.
“I have girls so nobody helps, they just let daddy do it. But (Stephanie) would come out and bring friends over so everyone could see it,” he said. “Stephanie always liked seeing the lights.”
It has been over a year since Stephanie Parze’s ex-boyfriend, 29-year-old John Ozbilgen, killed himself inside his family’s Freehold home after being released from jail on child pornography possession charges. Ozbilgen, who had previously been accused of assaulting Parze, left a note admitting to being responsible for her death, prosecutors said.
The case isn’t shut though.
Authorities have said his parents remain targets of an ongoing obstruction investigation. In September, the attorney for Ozbilgen’s parents, Haken and Cynthia Ozbilgen, argued in court for a judge to grant a motion seeking the return of property belonging to them that authorities seized during the investigation into the disappearance, including their cell phones, computers, gaming systems and cable modem.
Edward Parze said the family continues to wait for answers.
“We haven’t had an update in about a month now,” he said. “We’re just waiting for something to happen.”
Friday, December 11, 2020 - Edward and Sharlene Parze's daughter Stephanie was killed last year by her ex-boyfriend. Her family was known in Freehold for their huge Christmas light display, which they didn't put up last year while the search for Stephanie was going on. They decided to keep the tradition going this year for Stephanie. Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
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Avalon Zoppo may be reached at azoppo2@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AvalonZoppo.
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