Xenophon “Zenny” Zorba. Zenny was well known in Mansfield and surrounding towns as owner and operator of the former Zenny’s Restaurant in Storrs-Mansfield, CT, where his friends in the community visited him daily for nearly 30 years until 2010, be it for dinner, a wedding, any one of a number of celebrations, a classical chamber music concert, or simply to watch the Red Sox, UCONN, or Jeopardy together over a drink.
Xenophon “Zenny” Zorba, 71, of Willington, CT, loving husband of Alisonn (Ensell) Zorba, passed away peacefully Sept. 17, 2012 at home.
A celebration of his life will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 13 at Storrs Congregational Church, 2 North Eagleville Road, on the Storrs-UConn campus.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Storrs Congregational Church.
Zenny was born on Oct. 29, 1940 in Katerini, Greece to Alexander and Rebecca (Sideropoulos) Zorba.
Zenny was well known in Mansfield and surrounding towns as owner and operator of the former Zenny’s Restaurant in Storrs-Mansfield, CT, where his friends in the community visited him daily for nearly 30 years until 2010, be it for dinner, a wedding, any one of a number of celebrations, a classical chamber music concert, or simply to watch the Red Sox, UCONN, or Jeopardy together over a drink.
The hundreds of employees over the years were like family to Zenny and would stay in touch with him many years after they worked there.
Zenny came to the United States in 1947 and lived in and around Boston up to 1967. As a young man, Zenny worked hard at many different vocations, from driving a taxi, to going up 5 stories to paint buildings, to working at a Coca Cola bottling plant.
In 1967 Zenny moved to Connecticut, where he learned the building trade and ultimately owned and operated his own building and foundation business through the 1970s. During this time, Zenny helped many people become first-time homeowners.
In 1980, Zenny opened Zenny’s Restaurant at Four Corners – the intersection of Routes 44 and 195, and then expanded the business twice throughout the decade.
While it took him 54 years to finally get around to it, one of Zenny’s proudest days was becoming a citizen of the United States in 2001.
Zenny is survived by his wife Alisonn, his four children Laurie Zorba of North Billerica, MA, Christine Ann DeCarolis and her husband James of Nashua, NH, Alexander Zorba and his wife Joanne of Madison, CT and Bethany Zorba of Tolland, CT, his two grandchildren Connor Occhialini and Nicholas Zorba, and his sister Athena Kantartjis and her husband Michael of Athens, Greece.
Zenny’s family would like to thank his many friends – though there is not enough space here to individually thank the countless number of people who were a friend to him.
The family also wishes to thank Storrs Congregational Church for being a welcoming spiritual home for him during his later years and to the caring people of Vitas Hospice Care for helping him stay at home in his final peaceful days.
Potter Funeral Home www.potterfuneralhome.com is handling arrangements.
Posted October 5, 2012
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Andy Shinoski of Ashford, CT passed away on Monday April 8 at the age of 77.
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