Oxford woman to receive Derby Historical Society's prestigious John I. Howe Award

 Patricia C. Tarasovic 

ANSONIA - Oxford resident Patricia C. Tarasovic is this year's recipient of the Derby Historical Society's prestigious Dr. John Ireland Howe Award.

The recognition is awarded to a businessman or woman, individual, group, firm, corporation, or industry whose presence has consistently benefited one or more Valley communities in the spirit of its namesake. 

This benefit is either through activism, perseverance, and/or philanthropy to the extent that the Derby Historical Society recognizes they will be remembered in an historical context by future generations. 

Tarasovic has been a resident of Oxford since 1979. She has served as Director of the Volunteer Action Center and Vice President of Community Engagement at Valley United Way from 1991 to 2020. 

In addition, Tarasovic has been an active volunteer in Oxford and the Valley. She and her husband Nicholas have three children and six grandchildren.

Tarasovic worked for close to 30 years for Valley nonprofits. 

During her time at Valley United Way, she founded the Corporate Volunteer Council and High School Volunteer Council, which has provided nonprofits and individuals with hundreds  of projects, and thousands of hours of service. 

Such initiatives helped tackle food insecurity in the Valley and assisted vulnerable families in need through programs like the Back to School for Kids Program and Holiday Giving. 

Tarasovic founded Harvest House with the CVC. Harvest House is a community-wide initiative to build a house of food. It has provided hundreds of thousands of pounds of nonperishables to local pantries since 2005. 

In 2014, she helped to develop a Food Task Force in the Valley with the Council for Health and Human Services. She chaired the task force from 2016-2018.

Tarasovic has received several regional, state, and congressional awards from agencies such as the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce, Connecticut Education Association, Connecticut Junior Women, Derby-Shelton Rotary Club, TEAM, Inc., YMCA, Birmingham Group Health Services, and Women Making a Difference in the Valley.

A Griffin Hospital corporator, Tarasovic was co-founder of the hospital's Valley Goes Pink initiative and served as co-chair of the Campaign for Breast Wellness that supported the development of The Hewitt Center for Breast Wellness at Griffin.

She also was appointed by the Governor to serve on the State of Community Service Commission.

This is a press release from Daniel Bosques, executive director, Derby Historical Society. 

The historical society is dedicated to preserving, maintaining, and celebrating the rich and varied history of the Lower Naugatuck Valley.