Anne Dolores Zvara Sarosy, a former resident of Campbell, Ohio and resident of Colorado Springs for the last nine years, began her eternal life on August 4, 2015, three weeks following her 92nd birthday. Anne was born on July 14, 1923, to Joseph and Dorothy (Sarvas) Zvara in Campbell, Ohio. She was an accomplished accordionist having her own orchestra heard weekly on WKBN Radio in the late 1930’s and early 40’s. It was here she met her future husband, John Sarosy, the vocalist. They were married on May 10, 1941 and spent the summer in New York City, where John studied voice at the Metropolitan Opera. World War II changed the direction of their lives. While John was serving his country with the famed Jolly Rogers-Army Air Corps in the South Pacific, Anne worked as an apprentice draftsman for Republic Steel in Youngstown, Ohio and studied machine drawing/engineering at Case School of Applied Science in Cleveland, Ohio. She later earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education, Cum Laude, from Youngstown State University and a Master in Education/Counseling degree at Westminster College, New Wilmington, PA. In addition, she did Slovak language studies at the University of Akron, University of Pittsburgh and the Slovak Jesuit Institute in Toronto, Canada.
Anne was extremely proud of her Slovak heritage and was a founding director of the Mahoning Valley Slovak Cultural Society. She served as Wreath, Assembly and Group president of the Slovak Catholic Sokol in the Youngstown area and as Ladies Vice- President of the national/international SCS. She was a Vice-President of the Slovak League of America and Scholarship Committee director; chair of the Slovak World Congress Women’s Committee, and a delegate to the World Peace Conference in Munich. She held membership in numerous other Slovak organizations and traveled twice to Slovakia, visiting her parents’ birthplace. The appreciation and preservation of Slovak customs and culinary heritage led to the publication of two cookbooks: “Treasured Tastes and Traditions” and “A Culinary Collection of our Slovak Heritage”, co-authored with her daughter, Sandra Sarosy Duve.
Enriching young minds was always in the forefront for Anne. She was a dedicated teacher who set high goals and expectations for each of her many students during her 32 years with the parochial and public schools in Campbell, Ohio. She was instrumental in early childhood development programs in the area, working with Head Start.
She is survived by her daughters, Sandra Duve (James) of Colorado Springs, and Martha Vercellone (Joseph) of Dothan, Alabama; granddaughter, Julianne Gnandt (Dr. Ryan) and grandsons Christopher Duve (Laura) and Jonathan Zetts; and great-grandchildren: Madeline and James Duve and Matthew, Andrew, Nicholas and Jonathan Gnandt plus “Baby Sister”, who is due in October. She was preceded in death by her husband, John, her parents, sister, Esther DeSanto, and brother, Bill Zvara, all for whom she greatly grieved.
A Mass of Christian Burial in celebration of her life will be held at 11 AM on Thursday, August 13, 2015, at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Woodmen Valley. The family will receive friends in the church narthex one hour prior to the service. Interment will be at St. John’s Cemetery, Lowellville, Ohio, with a private committal service set for a later date.
Memorials in Anne’s name may be made to the Penrose-St. Francis Foundation – Wall of Honor, 2222 North Nevada Ave. Colorado Springs, CO 80907, or, the University of Pittsburgh Office of Institutional Advancement, 128 N. Craig Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15260; memo line-“Slovak Language, Literature and Culture Program in memory of Anne Sarosy”, or online at www.giveto.pitt.edu.
Anne was a deeply prayerful woman and found great joy in her family, heritage and life-long learning.
The 103rd Psalm was her daily prayer:
“Bless the LORD, O my soul and all that is within me, Bless His Holy Name.”