Obituary of Elena G. Koziar

Elena G. (Giordano) Koziar of Randolph, who served in the US Navy as a member of the WAVES during World War II, died May 1, 2016. She was 96. A graduate of Orange High School, Mrs. Koziar worked in the South Orange office of the Prudential Insurance Co. before enlisting in the Navy. She later worked in the insurance offices of Ford Associates in Springfield, and at the Cranford Chronicle in Cranford. She attended classes at Union College in Cranford. Mrs. Koziar was born in Orange, the daughter of the late former Parks and Public Property Commissioner Ralph E. Giordano and Carrie (Minnerly) Giordano. She lived in Orange and Cranford for 44 years before moving to Raritan Township in 1997. She met her husband, Theodore, at a Christmas party in her father’s law office in Orange, when he was covering the city as a reporter for the Newark Evening News. They were married on Feb. 21, 1946, in Harrisburg, PA, where she was living and serving at the Naval Supply Depot in Mechanicsburg, PA. Surviving are her three daughters, Carol Radis of Rockaway, Karen Boyd of Milton, DE, and Leslie Shaw of Lubbock, TX; a brother Robert Giordano of Rutland, VT; a sister Gloria Weston of Orinda, CA; seven grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by her husband of 65 years, Theodore, in 2011. Tuttle Funeral Home, Randolph (www.tuttlefh.com) is in charge of funeral arrangements. Interment will be in Fairview Cemetery, Westfield, following a private family service on Saturday, May 7, 2016. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to Compassionate Care Hospice, 400 W. Blackwell St. Dover, NJ 07801.