Dolores Rose Zambo

Presented by her daughter, Laura Zambo Flores

With great sadness, we wish to announce the passing of Dolores Rose Zambo, known to everyone as Lorry, on August 15th, 2022. There will be a memorial service for her at Miramar National Cemetery on September 8th, 2022 at 2:00 PM.

Lorry was 90 years old when she passed and was preceded by her beloved husband Emil Zambo of 62 years of marriage. She is survived by her two children, Laura (Married to Mark Flores) and her son Ray. She has two granddaughters, Natalie Rae and Alisa Amy Flores. Lorry has three sisters, Susan (Married to Ted Protonentis), sister Chrissy (Married to Robert Toth) and sister, Cathy Bobel. Lorry’s nieces and nephews are Ted (Married to Aulynn), Alina, Jonathan, Cory and Matthew.

Mom (Lorry) was born on November 21 (same calendar day as her husband, Emil!) 1931 in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. She was the oldest daughter of four girls born to Francis and Agnes Novak. The family lived in a sweet English tutor style house on a corner in Woodbridge, N.J., which is still owned today by mom’s sister.

Lorry was an only child for 13 years of her life. To keep herself entertained she would read anything she could get her hands on, including the cereal boxes. Her love of reading continued through most of her life. At 13 little did she know she would become the baby sitter of the house for the next five years. Her sister Susie was born next, then in another three years the twins were born, Cathy and Chrissy. All her sisters looked up to mom not just because she was older but for her “…sweet, comforting qualities. She was so smart, soft spoken, and her answers were full of wisdom. She had a wonderful laugh and smile”, remembers her sister, Chrissy.

In Mom’s formative years, she would go visit her uncle Eddie who happened to be a town doctor. Dr. Eddie soon recognized Lorry’s potential and soon enough he asked if she’d like to help out around the office. Mom took an early interest in attending to his patients. She had found her calling! After high school mom went off to St. Peters Nursing School in New Brunswick, N.J. and received her license as an R.N.

While she was working at Roosevelt Hospital in Metuchan, N.J., a young, handsome Hungarian was admitted for a “boil on his butt”, and mom happened to be assigned to him. They took a fancy to each other and somehow he managed to stay in the hospital for two weeks! It’s because of that backside that I am here and get to write this…. His name was Emil Zambo and so they began their love affair. One year later in 1957 they were married in New Brunswick, N.J. and were even late for their own wedding!

In 1958, nine months after their Honeymoon in Niagara Falls, their first child “Loolabelle” (daddy’s nickname), Laura was born. When Laura was two they packed up their VW bug and headed to Santa Monica to start a new life. That venture didn’t last long and they returned to Jersey after a year.

Mom and dad saved up money to buy their first house in North Plainfield. Then in 1962 their son Ray was born. After five years in their first home they sold it and bought a two story Cape Cod style house on a corner in the town of Fanwood, N.J. This move would be the defining memories of their two kiddies. Fanwood was a one square mile town that any kid would have loved to grow up in. Summer movies in the park, parades down our street, plenty of kids in the “hood” to play kickball with.

Mom continued her nursing skills working at Lyons V.A. Hospital in the Watchung Mountains. I remember dad taking us to visit her on the grounds and she’d introduce us to her favorite patient. He was a sweet and humble veteran that she nicknamed, “Nature Boy”….they both had an appreciation for the beauty of nature. During this time Dad worked at Koppers Coupling factory as a draftsman. Because Mom worked the swing shift, 3 PM to 12 AM, Ray and I would come home for lunch from grade school and mom was home to give us buttered macaroni and a carrot stick. We’d find her in front of our B&W TV watching General Hospital, As the World Turns, or Peyton Place, folding laundry before heading off to work. I remember when we’d go to neighborhood BBQ’s and school functions I’d always think: my mom’s the prettiest of them all!

Mom loved white elephant sales, swap meets and garage sales. Most of our clothes were second hand or she would sew Laura a blouse or make a skirt for herself. She’d often take us to Fabricland off of Route 22 and we’d hide under the bolts of fabrics while she poured through pattern books. She also enjoyed cross stitch in her spare time and took an arts and crafts class of which we have several of the pieces she created. She took an Asian cooking class in town and really got into wok cooking. For a long season bok choy and bean sprouts abounded.

As I stated, mom married a Hungarian who happened to be a gypsy in nature and a hopeless dreamer. Dad eyed the west coast again for another move. Mom and Ray were happy to stay put. How could she leave her mom and sisters and live 3000 miles away?! But Dad and Laura (like father like daughter) wanted to seek a more glamorous lifestyle, and so we moved back to California, this time, San Diego. They bought a house with a view in Bay Ho and lived next door to their wonderful neighbors, Roy and Ann Bredfield. They became close friends and supportive neighbors right up to Lorry’s passing.

Mom continued to practice nursing, receiving outstanding employee reports. She missed her family back in New Jersey and wrote them many letters over the next several years. (We were very blessed to get those letters back when her mom passed away in 1991.)

In 1978 their son Ray had a bad motorcycle accident that would change the family forever. The accident left his arms and legs paralyzed. Mom with her matter of fact outlook on life and her easy going personality (which made her a great nurse), held the family together and became the lead caregiver and rock for her son. She would don her bathing suit and give Ray showers and attend to his many needs every day along with Dad’s help. She managed to make life for the family as normal as possible.

Mom and dad and Ray loved taking road trips and would venture cross country to visit mom’s family in New Jersey. Her travel journals were full of every detail – down to the cost of gas, hotel expenses, meals, and whether dad was in a good mood or not! One of her greatest thrills was to hang out with her sisters, shop antiques and swap meets with them, then come back and eat with the gang and do dishes in the kitchen while doing the “Bump”. She also loved when her sisters Sue and Chrissy would fly out and visit her in CA. There were many great memories of driving to Las Vegas, Laughlin, or up the coast, eating at the 94th Aero Squadron and Filippis restaurant. The Zambos also got into cruising, sailing down the coast of Mexico several times, to Alaska and the Panama Canal. On a few of those, the Flores’ were invited and had great times on the high seas!

When Laura, Mark, Natalie and Alisa moved to San Diego from L.A. in 2003 to help the family out, mom was ecstatic! She could now shower her granddaughters with more love and time. After she retired from nursing in 1993, Lorry’s love of animals prompted trips with her granddaughters to the zoo and Cadman Dog Park in Bay Ho which she helped to establish. She started volunteering at Project Wildlife once a week for four years helping feed birds and their babies that had been rescued.

Mom always looked sharp in her Chico outfits and collection of Native American jewelry. She seemed to always have a book in her lap. She was a crossword puzzle enthusiast for over 15 years and believed it would help keep her mind sharp and alert. But sadly, mom was diagnosed with dementia in 2016, and over the course of six years began the awful decline. As a family we continued to do as much as possible with mom until she could no longer be cared for by us. After dad passed away in 2020, mom was soon placed at Stellar Care for her caregiving needs. In her last few years she became a “singer”, and would unabashedly belt out hymns in church or sing along to “Besame Mucho.” She could hold a tune, sing a harmony, all with beautiful vibrato to the amazement of her music loving kids!

We all wanted mom to be home with us in her last days. She was surrounded by her kids, son in law, and granddaughters. Laura played guitar for her and she was cared for and loved on. Oh, how we wish she could have understood how much we loved her. Ray’s girlfriend/caregiver Fay, did an amazing job being her hospice nurse.

We lost an angel, a rock, the best mother, grandma, sister, and friend we could ever ask for. She will never leave our hearts, our memories. Thank you dear Lord for your precious gift to us all.