Victor Zelman 12/1/21-1/18/15; wife Betty a very youthful and vibrant 86 (surviving)
Parents (deceased): father Nathan, mother Yetta
Siblings (all deceased): Sylvia, Jack and Bea.

5 Children (sons, all surviving): Lawrence 66, NYC, retail clothing sales; Michael 62, attorney, Islamorada; Robert 61, physician, Spokane; Andrew 55, attorney, Orlando (daughter-in-law Ellen, grandchildren Steven 26, Katie 23); William 55, physician Portland Maine (daughter-in-law Shana, grandson Isaac 5).

thoughts of my father invariably starts with his remarkably humble beginnings, especially when I contemplate his childhood and upbringing compared to mine. nothing was handed to him. he was born to immigrant parents of very modest means. He recalled to me how he had helped with his father's a horse-drawn laundry business in new York city. he told me how he had always wished to become a fireman. he put himself through school, working during the day and attending night school, earning CPA and law degrees. In his empire state building office, clients seeking his advice and counsel included the likes of Elizabeth Taylor and Eddie fisher. he and my uncle bob later began a successful appliance manufacturing business. his hard work and personal sacrifice that I will never fully comprehend significantly helped to pave the way for the success of his family.

while his army service was brief, I am incredibly proud that he, as well as my mother's brother, uncle bob freedman, and my surviving father in law, Hugh Hastings, and so many others of this country's truly greatest generation voluntarily enlisted to serve while WWII was raging, knowing it possible they may never return to their families, or have a chance to start one of their own.

My earliest memories of my dad involve him always fixing himself anything that was broken or needed repair, and patiently explaining and showing to me how he was going to accomplish whatever it was, and allowing us to actively participate and help. When he retired from New York in his 50's and bought the farm in Maine, self-taught, he would rebuild anything himself, from a simple lawn mower to his big old Massey tractor and its hydraulics. he loved physical labor, from haying and slinging the bails into the barn loft to chopping and splitting firewood.

He cared deeply for our mother/his wife of 67 years, his five sons and 3 grandchildren. He was exceptionally cordial to strangers and others, and, always the teacher, loved to meet new people, talk and tell stories. significant hearing loss caused in his army days perhaps affected his listening "skills", and he could be quite stubborn at times, but no one could deny that from a remarkably full, long and healthy life, that he had quite a bit to talk about.