New month, personal blog post: Final farewell

Photo credit: John S. Zaleski 

This week a friend and I said goodbye to our friend, Bob Pollack, at a burial ceremony with military honors at the state Veterans' Cemetery in Middletown.

Bob, a proud U.S. Air Force veteran, passed away in February at age 93. This is the link to his obituary on my blog.

I want to give a special thank you to John Zaleski, owner of Wakelee Memorial Funeral Home, for coordinating the arrangements for the beautiful military service for Bob, and for taking photos while we were there.

Cemeteries are inherently peaceful but my friend and I both felt we were in an especially serene setting, far from the bustle of everyday life. It is a truly beautiful resting place for our nation's deserving veterans.

Saying goodbye is never easy

Robert C. Pollack Obituary - posted on Wakelee Memorial Funeral Home Site

Robert C. Pollack of Ansonia, peacefully entered eternal rest Feb. 8, 2025 at Shady Knoll Center for Health & Rehabilitation in Seymour. He was 93.

Born on Nov. 19, 1931 in Brooklyn, N.Y., he was the only child of Philip and Sylvia Pollack. 

Bob was a lifelong newspaper man. He started his career as a copy boy in the early 1950s at the former New York Herald Tribune. He was a proud veteran of the U.S. Air Force, having worked in communications in print and on the radio, where his call name was "Caladare." He often spoke of how fortunate he had been to travel the world while stationed in Europe, Libya, and stateside.

 After moving to Connecticut in the 1960s Bob worked for several publications, including the former Bridgeport Post (now the Connecticut Post), the New Haven Register, and the Evening Sentinel of Ansonia, where he was the Shelton bureau chief for several years. 

He was named managing editor of the Sentinel in 1977, a position he held until 1992. Over the years Bob was an enthusiastic teacher and mentor to many young reporters who were starting their journalism careers. 

Despite being a Connecticut resident for almost six decades Bob remained a New Yorker at heart. His first love was journalism - but attending Broadway shows with friends and dining at the finest establishments in the city was always a close second. 

Bob leaves to cherish his memory Patricia Villers of Ansonia and her two children, Allegra Nanna (Robert) of New Bedford, Mass., and Cameron Villers of Brooklyn, N.Y., Ashley Brownell of Ansonia and her family, and Sharon and James Shay of Oxford. 

Services are private and are in care of the Wakelee Memorial Funeral Home, 167 Wakelee Ave., Ansonia. Online condolences may be made at www.wakeleememorial.com.

To plant a beautiful memorial tree in memory of Robert, please visit our Tree Store.

Link to Wakelee Memorial Funeral Home post:

https://www.wakeleememorial.com/obituaries/Robert-C-Pollack?obId=36881899&source=fb0

Recuperation journey: Sad to learn of passing of a former colleague

Yesterday I was saddened to read of the passing Wednesday of Seymour resident Pauline Lounsbury, longtime reporter for the former Evening Sentinel. 

Reading her obituary reminded me of what a great reporter Pauline was - no one could cover Seymour more thoroughly and with more sources than she! 

We were a small staff, and Pauline often worked mornings by herself in a tiny bureau on Bank Street in Seymour before she arrived in the Ansonia newsroom. I remember her jokingly refer to herself as the "chief of the Seymour bureau." 

Pauline is the fourth journalist with whom I worked closely for 14 years at the Sentinel who sadly has passed away. 

I send my sincere condolences to Pauline's family. May she rest in peace.

Sharing sentimental feelings today

Obituary for Marion McDonald

Born: West New York, NJ
Lived: Ansonia

Marion McDonald, 92, of Ansonia, a longtime Orange resident, entered into rest Thursday at her home after a long illness. 
She was the wife of the late Donald McDonald.
She was born Feb. 9, 1924 in West New York, N.J., daughter of the late Charles and Frederica Albert.

She worked as an executive secretary in Manhattan until 1951 when she married and moved to New Haven. She and her husband moved to Orange in 1955. Later, she worked as a dental assistant in New Haven.

Marion is survived by her daughter, Patricia Villers and her husband, Ralph Villers of Ansonia; her two cherished grandchildren, Allegra Villers and Cameron Villers; and her longtime companion Robert C. Pollack. She is also survived by several nieces and nephews. In addition to her parents she was predeceased by her brother, William Albert.

Marion was truly a caregiver at heart. If anyone she loved didn’t feel well she would go into high gear to nurse them back to health.

Marion always enjoyed working with children. She taught a Sunday School nursery class for more than a dozen years at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Orange, and she was an assistant Brownie and Girl Scout leader. Marion will be sadly missed by all who knew her. She was smart, stubborn, and full of all good things.

Her family will always remember her favorite expression, “There’s always something.” It’s hard to disagree with that.

Friends may call Sunday from 2:00 - 5:00 p.m. at the Edward F. Adzima Funeral Home, 253 Elizabeth St., Derby. Her funeral service will be held Monday at 10:00 a.m. at the funeral home. Burial will be in Orange Center Cemetery.

The family requests contributions in Marion’s memory be made to Seymour Pink, Inc., P.O. Box 333, Seymour, CT., 06483, or the Center for Disability Rights, 369 Highland St., West Haven, CT., 06516.

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We thank our friend Paula Norton for creating this from my mother's obituary in the New Haven Register.

This is one of my favorite photos of my mother. It was taken at our wedding reception in May, 1986.