Xenophon "Zenny" Zorba

Xenophon "Zenny" Zorba, 71, of Willington, CT, loving husband of Alisonn (Ensell) Zorba, passed away peacefully Monday September 17, 2012 at home. Zenny was born on October 29, 1940 in Katerini, Greece to Alexander and Rebecca (Sideropoulos) Zorba. Zenny owned and operated Zenny's Restaurant in Storrs, 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. Many of 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, 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 Zenny's 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. A memorial celebration will be held at Storrs Congregational Church, 2 North Eagleville Road, Storrs, CT on Saturday October 13 at 10:30am. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Storrs Congregational Church. The family strongly encourages friends to share their memories of Zenny by visiting his online memorial guestbook at www.potterfuneralhome.com .