Peter Zarges, 74; Staples Graduate, Coleytown Volunteer Fire Co. Firefighter
Peter D Zarges passed away peacefully at home May 19th. Peter was born May 10,1947 in Norwalk, CT to Albert and Rachel (Saunders) Zarges.
After graduating from Staples High School, Westport, CT he joined the US Navy. He served aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk off the coast of Viet Nam and North Korea during the Pueblo crisis.
Peter began his 40year career with the various ATT companies in 1970, starting with Southern New England Telephone and moving to Southwestern Bell.
Peter’s life-long commitment to the fire service started at Coleytown Volunteer Engine Company No.6, Westport Fire Department. He continued with Klein Volunteer Fire Department as firefighter. Throughout the years he served as Lieutenant, Captain, District Chief and Fire Marshall. Peter was also an advisor to Exploring Post 31.
Peter is survived by his wife of 49yrs Janet, his two children and their spouses; Liz and Kelcey Trotty and Robert and Corey Zarges; his grandchild Jace Trotty; and his brother and sister-in-law David and Debbie Zarges and many nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to the Gary Sinise Foundation or Fisher House.
Layla K. Malon, 7; “Layla possessed a sweetness that truly captivated people.”
Obituary, Lesko & Polke Funeral HomeLayla Kim Ngân Malon, age 7, of Westport, passed away on June 17, 2021.
Born in Danbury, she was the beloved daughter of Eric Malon of Westport and the late Tracy Do. Layla was a student at Coleytown Elementary school.
Layla possessed a sweetness that truly captivated people. She brought smiles, laughter, and happiness to all around her. She loved and admired her big sissy Alexis, and was her Daddy’s little girl. Layla found great delight in her collection of stuff animals, "Stuffies".
In addition to her father, she will be lovingly remembered by her sister, Alexis, as well as, several aunts, uncles, cousins, and endearing family members.
Calling hours will be held on Wednesday from 4-8 PM in the Lesko & Polke Funeral Home 1209 Post Road in Fairfield Center. Her committal service will take place on Friday at 1030 AM in Willowbrook Cemetery in Westport.
The Malon family requests contributions in Layla's memory to: Mental Health Connecticut (www.MHCONN.org) 61 South Main Street (suite 100) West Hartford, CT 06107. For travel directions or to sign her online guest register, please visit www.LeskoPolkeFuneralHome.com
Vera Nicolopoulos, 91; Former Mitchell’s Seamstress, WWII Survivor
Obituary, The Marblehead Reporter
Vera Nicolopoulos, who survived World War II in Germany, came to America in search of a better life, and raised two children as a single mother, passed away at the Lafayette Nursing Home on June 13, 2021, just short of her 92nd birthday. She was a strong and brave woman who faced adversity with determination and good humor and was an inspiration to all who knew her.
She was born Vera Helene Martha Thomas on June 18, 1929, the only child of Arnhold and Helene Thomas. Her father was a blacksmith who died during the war, circumstances unknown, while on medical leave in Berlin. She and her mother lived in Berlin throughout the war, surviving numerous bombing raids and the Berlin Blockade which led to severe food shortages in the city.
After the war, Vera completed a three-year apprenticeship in dressmaking and emigrated with her four-year-old daughter, Petra, to join her husband in Stamford, Connecticut, where he had accepted a position as an engineer. In an effort to better acclimate to life in the U.S., she sent her daughter back to Berlin to live with her mother so she could go to night school to learn English and eventually get a job working as a pattern maker for Vogue Patterns.
After her first marriage ended and Conde Nast Publications, Vogues parent company, moved to New York City, she worked as a seamstress for several clothing stores, including H. Frankel & Sons in Stamford and Mitchell's in Westport. While she would have had greater job opportunities in New York, she decided that a big city was no place to raise a child.
In 1968, she married Peter Nicolopoulos, who had recently emigrated from Greece, and they later had a son, Christos, when she was 41 years old. She and her second husband lived in Norwalk, Connecticut, and Clearwater, Florida, until their divorce in 1982. She continued to live in Norwalk where she was a member of the Calvary Baptist Church in Darien and the Quartette Club Singers, a traditional German singing group.
In 2014, she and her son moved to Marblehead to be closer to her daughter and son-in-law, and she became a member of Grace Community Church. She lived independently with her son on Summer Street and then with her daughter and son-in-law before entering the Lafayette in 2018.
Vera is survived by her daughter, Petra Langer, and her son, Christos Nicolopoulos, both of Marblehead; her son-in-law, Phil Axten; her two grandchildren, Simon Axten, and his wife, Sarah Benrath, of Bend, Oregon, and Karen Axten, and her partner, Aaron Johnson, of Boston; and four great-grandchildren, Lucy, George, Frederick, and Alistair.
In lieu of flowers, contributions in her name may be made to Grace Community Church, 17 Pleasant Street, Marblehead, MA 01945. For upcoming service information, or to share a memory or offer online condolences to the family, please visit eustisandcornellfuneralhome.com.
Dr. Horace Laffaye, 86; Norwalk Hospital Chief of Surgery, Polo Player
Obituary
Horace Albert Laffaye, 86, passed away of natural causes due to complications of late-stage Alzheimer's Disease on May 31, 2021 in Durango, Colorado. He was a long-time resident of Weston, Westport, and Fairfield, Connecticut; and of Wellington, Florida.
After joining a private practice at The Willows in Westport, Dr. Laffaye served as Chief of Surgery at Norwalk Hospital for 22 years until his retirement in 2005. He was a member of several professional organizations, including serving as Past President of the New England Surgical Society and the Surgeons' Travel Club. For several years, he mentored PAs as a professor with the Yale University Physician Assistant Program. Through his practice of medicine, Dr. Laffaye touched many: from setting broken bones and stitching up lacerations, to saving lives with his competent surgical skills.
Lifelong learning was essential to him, and he continuously sought to improve his knowledge. As Chief, Dr. Laffaye organized annual symposia for his colleagues at Norwalk Hospital, where surgeons shared their professional expertise, as well as spent time socializing for long weekends at places like Lake George, New York and Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. Because of the many 'type-A' personalities involved, these weekends always included hard-fought competitions for golf and tennis awards, some of which he named after his grandkids: the Martina Cup, Derek's Jug, Grace's Tassie and last, but not least, the Gemini Cup, for the twin boys, Mark and Todd.
Serendipitously, it was during his practice of medicine that Dr. Laffaye encountered a patient who sought treatment for an injury sustained while playing polo. Thus began the re-ignition of a passion within Dr. Laffaye for one of his youthful endeavors back in his native Argentina. For two decades, Dr. Laffaye played polo at the Fairfield County Hunt Club in Westport, the Ox Ridge Hunt Club in Darien, and at the White Birch Polo Club in Greenwich, as well as matches throughout the Northeast.
After his playing days ended, Horace combined his love of history and passion for polo by reinventing himself as a scholar and author. Known for his steel-trap memory for the minutiae of tournaments long-past, eventually he authored or edited nine books and innumerable articles on polo in both Spanish and English, adding significantly to the historical record of the sport. In 2010 Horace served as a Daniels Fellow at the National Sporting Museum and Library in Middleburg, Virginia, research which led to the publication of his work, Polo in the United States: A History.
Whether on the sidelines of a practice or in the grandstands of a major final, Horace loved to share engaging stories of players and horses from the earliest days of polo to the more recent past.
Upon his retirement to Wellington, Florida Horace gave his time and talents to assist the Polo Museum and Hall of Fame in myriad ways, from helping the organization add to their collections of books, art and memorabilia, to serving on the Board of Directors and as Chair of the Nominating Committee for the Hall of Fame.
Throughout his life, Horace appreciated the friends he made worldwide from the game of polo. He was as comfortable conversing with CEOs and Ambassadors as he was with grooms and other staff. He bonded with people through their shared love of the game.
In addition to his enthusiasm for polo, Horace pursued various outlets for his competitive nature. Some of his fondest memories came from the golf course, the unique challenges of the game and the opportunities for socializing with friends. In his youth, he both played and refereed rugby, and he met his future wife after a match at a rugby club.
Also, Horace was honored with a lifetime membership to the Sports Car Club of America, having competed in rallies for decades when he first arrived in the United States. During his final years, his caregivers chuckled with great fondness at his exclamations from the passenger seat, "You drive like Fangio," one of his Argentine car-racing idols.
Dad was predeceased by members of his beloved family: his wife Martha; sister María Teresa and brother Roberto; and of course his parents, all of whom he recalled strongly in his final years. He is survived by his daughter Gisele Laffaye Pansze and her husband Trent of Durango, Colorado and their children; his former daughter-in-law Ann Kovarik Laffaye of Phoenix and son Patrick of Norwalk and their sons; his loving companion in his later years, Mary Boykin of Palm Beach; and numerous nieces and nephews and their families in Argentina.
After Martha's passing, when Horace gathered his family for an Alaskan cruise, he remarked, "After I die, my grandkids won't remember that I was a surgeon or an author. But they will remember that I took them to Alaska." He was that kind of gentleman: generous, thoughtful, gracious. And even toward the end, his wicked sense of humor and his contagious laughter would emerge at unexpected moments.
Please join his family for a celebration of Horace's remarkable life on Saturday, July 24th at noon at the Greenwich Polo Club, One Hurlingham Drive, Greenwich, Connecticut 06831.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Horace's honor for Alzheimer's research and support programs to Memory Matters, PO Box 22330, Hilton Head Island, SC 29925