After a long, courageous battle with epilepsy, Denise Marie Peeke, affectionately known to some as “Dee”, passed on April 14, 2026 at the age of 39. Denise is survived by her loving fiancé Blake Lechner. Cherished daughter of Marie E. Peeke and Dennis K. Peeke (Debbie) and loving sister of Kevin Peeke and the late Keith Peeke. She is also survived by many cherished aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.

Denise was most recently a resident of Hartford, WI where she met and lived with her Fiancé Blake. She was born and raised in New Jersey where she attended Haddon Township High School and went on to study at Rutgers University New Brunswick for agricultural/arboriculture. She was always the one to go to for any arbor related questions as she maintained her love for trees (especially Sassafras) and all of nature.

In Denise’s early career, she was a medical billing and administrative specialist in New Jersey and Wisconsin. Her strong work ethic, compassion and tenacity won multiple awards for winning Insurance claim appeals. She was most recently studying to be a medical coder to continue her career in Wisconsin.

Denise always had a love for all animals, especially loved walking her two dogs, Dottie and Ichabod. She loved playing with her two cats, two snakes, two tortoises and aquatic turtle. Given her love of nature, her pollinator friends (butterflies and bees) and bird watching held a special place in her heart. She loved to spend time in her beautiful native flower gardens, having bonfires in the backyard, going on nature walks, and always liked buying more house plants to add to her vast collection.

She had an enormous love for all music. Some of her favorites were Ween, Dolly Parton and upcoming artists and she enjoyed creating personal playlists that many of us enjoyed.

Denise most valued her family and friends, it was important to her to keep in touch with her family, cousins and friends. She looked forward to her tea parties with her Wisconsin girlfriends as well as trips back to New Jersey to connect /gather with her friends here, especially her best friend Alyssa, her husband Dan and daughter Bethany. She made sure she remained close with her English relatives in England, visiting them multiple times over the years.

Although a transplant to Wisconsin, she never stopped supporting her Philly sports teams, especially the Eagles. Go Birds! As she had played basketball in high school, she enjoyed watching all women’s sports but especially the WNBA and her South Carolina gamecocks, and loved coach Dawn Staley.

Denise will be remembered for her infectious smile and love for people. She was strong, caring and giving of herself. Any interest or cause she cared about had her full support – no going half way. She had deep passion and firm conviction. There are many loving adjectives to describe our Denise… engaging, beautiful, selfless, strong willed, out spoken, happy, funny, silly, talkative, intelligent, loving. She will always be lovingly sweet.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend her viewing Friday, April 24th from 5 to 7 PM at the JACKSON FUNERAL HOME, 308 Haddon Ave., Westmont, NJ, followed by her Memorial Service at 7 PM. Interment will be private. In lieu of flowers contributions may be made in her memory to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) or American Epilepsy Society (AES). For online condolences please visit www.jacksonfh.net 

Dee's Memorial Service will be live on Facebook shortly before 7pm. Please "Like" Jackson Funeral Home on Facebook and log on at that time if you are unable to attend services in person.