Elizabeth Cecelia Kovats

January 8, 2016, wife of the late Steve Kovats and the late Joseph Pavlochik; dear mother of Paula (David)

Sommer, Marti (Paul) Marrano and Kimberly Kovats Ibrahim (Ahmed); also survived by seven grandchildren,

three great-grandchildren and three step-grandchildren; aunt of John and Nadine Cardas. Friends may call

Tuesday 4-8 PM at the DENGLER, ROBERTS, PERNA FUNERAL HOME, 3070 Delaware Ave., Kenmore.

Friends are invited to attend a Funeral Service Wednesday 10 AM from the Kenmore United Methodist Church,

32 Landers Rd., Kenmore. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Kenmore United Methodist Church

or Hospice Buffalo. www.denglerrobertspernafuneral.com

Elizabeth C. Kovats of Buffalo, former owner and operator of Elizabeth’s Candies, died Jan. 8 in Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital, Amherst, after a short illness. She was 95.

Born in Buffalo, the former Elizabeth Cardas was a graduate of Riverside High School and worked as an airplane riveter for Curtiss-Wright during World War II.

After the war, she went to work for Paul Condrell, owner of the Alcobar Candy Shop, and became a chocolate dipper and candy maker. In 1965, she opened her own shop on Bailey Avenue at East Amherst Street. She closed it after the death of her second husband, Steve, in 1979.

In 1981, Mrs. Kovats became the first person locally to rent retail space in a supermarket, a Bells Park Edge Market on Elmwood Avenue in North Buffalo, and continued there until the store closed in 1989. During those years, she and her family began selling boxed chocolates to all of the supermarket chains in Western New York, as well as to smaller retailers. During the 1980s, she also opened a new retail shop at 2645 Elmwood Ave. She continued working until she was 86, when she closed the business and retired.

Her first husband, Joseph Pavlochik, died in 1953.

Survivors include three daughters, Paula Sommer, Marti Marrano and Kimberly Kovats Ibrahim; seven grandchildren; three great-grandchildren and three step-grandchildren.

Services were held Wednesday in Kenmore United Methodist Church, 32 Landers Road, Kenmore.