‘I tend to think that my gardening success is not measured by the size of the harvest, the largest or the earliest tomato or the heaviest pumpkin. To me, success rests in making plants grow – and in the joy of having watched my young daughter find the first new potato or my son taste the first ripe radish freshly wiped clean in the grass covered with morning dew. These days, it is in the sharing of a carrot or a cucumber grown by our grandsons in their garden.’
~George Zars (from a 2010 CHS Newsletter article)
We are saddened by the news of the passing on April 11 of one of our longtime members, George (Juris) Zars.
George was a lifelong gardener. He grew up on a farm and as an adult continued to primarily grow vegetables, especially yellow tomatoes since, at the time, they weren’t readily available at market. He also enjoyed growing daylilies.
He was born in Anna, Latvia and after arriving in the USA with his family post-World War II, he became a naturalized citizen. He was a graduate of Canton High School and Hillyer College, earning his Masters degree in Mathematics from the University of Hartford. He served in the US Army, both active and reserves as a Military Policemen.
After working locally at the Ensign Bickford Company, George pursued his lifelong passion for teaching. He retired from the CT public school system after serving many years as the head of the Mathematics Department at Bloomfield High School, where he coached several award-winning math teams.
George and his wife Linda, who passed in 2013 on their 52nd anniversary, were CHS members for years. George served on the Board as assistant to the Treasurer, who was Stephen Revis at the time.