Robert Joseph Zelanakas, 81, of North Haven, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, August 9, 2022, at Montowese Health & Rehabilitation Center, North Haven. He was the beloved husband of 59 years to Susan Hinchliff Zelanakas. Robert was born in Worcester, MA on October 11, 1940 and was the son of the late Joseph and Virginia Gustaitus Zelanakas. He served his country faithfully in the US Air Force. Robert had worked at Pratt & Whitney as a design engineer for many years until his retirement. He enjoyed hunting, fishing, wood working and most of all gardening especially tending to his vegetable garden. Father of David (Elizabeth) Zelanakas and Cheryl (Mark) Marchisano. Grandfather of Alicia (Robert) Legrow, David Zelanakas Jr., Madeleine, and Ethan Marchisano.
Family and friends are invited to go directly to Northford Cemetery on Foote Hill Road, Tuesday morning August 16th at 11:00 for the rendering of full military honors and to attend a committal service. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Associations, 200 Executive Blvd. Suite 4B, Southington, CT 06489.
Sue and family,
I’m sorry about Bob. I know you had a good life together.
May he Rest In Peace.
May God be a source of strength and love for you.
Marilyn Mitchell
Sad Regards to the Zelanakas Family,
Bob was a great father and friend to me as Dave and I started our Business’.
My prayers go out to all of the family.
Mark Buchter
To Sue and family, I offer my sincere condolences on your great loss. My prayers and thoughts are with you and may our good Lord greet him and keep Robert in his loving arms. Pam
Mrs. Zelenakas, David, Cheryl and Family. I am so very sorry for your loss. I am sending healing prayers and comforting hugs during this difficult time. I can remember coming to your home as a young teenager and having a grown up conversation with your husband and dad. How he loved to talk about the outdoors. As you know, we had fishing in common. So that topic was always a joy. Again, my condolences to all of you. We now have another angel among us to watch over us all.
Eleanor Rascati Carrano
Cheryl, I’m so very sorry to hear about your Dad. You’ve been in my thoughts and prayers as well as the rest of your family. Hugs my friend.
Dear Cheryl and family,
We are so sorry to learn of your Dad’s passing. May his memories bring you comfort.
Tom and June Roberts
My condolences. I just learned of Bob’s passing from a colleague. As I recently celebrated being at Pratt & Whitney (PW) for 35 years I’ve reminisced. Bob played a big part in developing young PW engineers, like myself, by willingly passing along his knowledge of mechanical design. That is, so long as you didn’t interrupt his morning cookie break.
Our VCH, Veterans Coffee House meets monthly at the Wallingford and Cheshire Senior Center which not only gives our Vets the chance to socialize but also take part in enjoying a guest speaker which are related to military topics. We were founded in 2017 by Mark Halliday and Robert Boucher. Our Veterans are an exceptional group and our intention is to bring together to socialize, offer assistance and support. We can be contacted at the Wallingford Senior Center.
At this very difficult time, our group would like to honor the loss of Robert Zelanakas as a fallen brother. Our military Veterans send out their heartfelt condolences to the Zelanakas family and friends. As an Air Force Veteran, he had joined an elite group of honorable men and women and our Country will forever be in his debt.
So sorry to hear of Zelly’s passing. I started at Pratt & Whitney in 1989 and he was quite the character in the office. I learned a lot from Bob and remember him fondly from those days. I hope he had many a cookie time in his retirement. My condolences to you and your family.
I just heard of Bob’s passing from a colleague at work.
My design drafting table was across the aisle from Bob’s for years, and I thoroughly enjoyed working alongside Bob.
He generously provided advice and counsel to a newly minted engineer.
I am truly saddened to hear this, my sincerest condolences to your family.