Luisa Olavarria Pleger's wake was held Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2016, in Nutley. Pleger's husband is charged with murder in her death.
NUTLEY - Dozens of mourners braved driving rain Wednesday evening for a service to remember Luisa Olavarria Pleger, the North Arlington woman beaten to death in a brutal attack last week.
"You were a sweet and friendly woman who smiled each day," co-worker Nermeen Hanna-Avegno posted in an online remembrance. "You were such a positive presence in our midst. That is how you will be remembered and missed."
Luisa's husband, Eric Pleger, has been charged with his wife's murder and possession of a weapon. He has pled not guilty and is being held in the Bergen County Jail on $2 million bail.
Authorities say Pleger, 45, beat his wife in the head with a hammer and stayed with the body for about a day until police - called to the Riverview Gardens apartment complex on a welfare check - found him there about noon on Friday, Jan. 29.
Luisa Pleger worked since 2009 in the Information Technology Department at Rutgers University in Newark and was a dedicated and well-liked employee, said Chancellor Nancy Cantor.
"It is a profound shock to us all to lose a member of our community, but especially in light of the implication of violence in her death," Cantor said in an email on Saturday.
Among the mourners at S.W. Brown & Son Funeral home in Nutley were several co-workers carrying Rutgers umbrellas and about a half-dozen uniformed police officers.
As loud sobs were heard coming from a chapel inside the funeral home, a man stepped outside, identified himself as a family member and quietly asked a reporter to leave.
In addition to her parents, Georgina and Nelson Hernandez, Luisa is survived by her brother Nelson Hernandez and his wife, Brenda; Raquel Longaray and her husband, Jason.
A funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at St. Columba Church, 25 Thomas St. in Newark.
Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.