Obituaries

Joan Post Parker

Joan Post Parker died Feb. 13 in Bar Harbor, Maine, surrounded by her family in her apartment at Birch Bay Harbor.

Born March 24, 1924, in Stamford, she was the daughter of Nathan Flower George and Theodora Von Gal. One of four children, she spent her childhood in Darien. After attending Low-Heywood School and Emma Willard School, she graduated from Vassar College with a degree in chemistry. She worked for Union Carbide in New York City as a chemical librarian before marrying Leon Abbett Post Jr. in 1948. She and Abbett raised their three children, Suzanne, Nata and John in Rowayton. He died in 1970.

Joan remarried Challen R. Parker in 1975 and they lived in Greenwich for many years until his death in 1991. She leaves a loving step-daughter, Buffy Parker and son-in-law, Spiros Polemis.

Joan spent many happy years with her partner, John Anderson living in Rowayton, and later Essex, until his death in 2007.

Joan's family was always her most important priority. A hostess, seamstress and organic gardener, she also enjoyed tennis, golf and travel throughout her life. She was a strong supporter of all her alma maters and Planned Parenthood.

Survivors include her children, Suzanne Plaut of Lubec, Maine, Nata Post of Oakland, Calif., and John Post of Kirkland, Wash.; her sisters, Thea Dean of Great Falls, Va., Nata Smith of Michigan; her step-daughter Buffy Parker and step son-in-law, Spiros Polemis of Stockton Springs, Maine; grandchildren, Jennifer Plaut, Ethan Plaut, Gabriella Brandt, Jeremy Brandt and Christopher Post; Mr. Anderson's daughters, Karen Bazeely, Nancy Anderson and Robyn Kassis and their families; and the extended Anderson family and a host of nieces, nephews and lifelong friends.

She was predeceased by her older brother, John George.

A memorial service will be held at the United Church of Rowayton at 2 p.m. on June 26 with a reception to follow.

Alice Zea

Alice Joy Zea of Darien, formerly of Greenwich and New York, died Saturday, May 1, at her home. She was 91.

Born Jan. 26, 1919, in Brooklyn, N.Y., she was the daughter of Samuel and Norma Katz. (The family name was later changed to Karl.) She graduated from Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn in 1936 and in 1940 she received her bachelor's degree in psychology from New York University. She was the first member of her family to graduate from college.

Between 1940 and 1944 she worked in personnel at Bell Labs in New York, and in 1944 she married James Gwin Zea and moved to California. Returning to New York in 1945, she worked at Revlon until 1948 when her first daughter, Kristi, was born. Her second daughter, Marni, was born four years later.

In 1962, Mrs. Zea went to work for her brother, Arthur Martin Karl, founder and president of Names Unlimited, a list brokerage firm in New York. She worked at Names Unlimited until her brother's sudden death in 1970, and in 1971 she joined another list brokerage firm, Direct Media, located in Rye, N.Y. In 1976, Mrs. Zea opened her own list brokerage company, AZ Lists, in Greenwich. As the firm thrived over the next few years she changed the name to AZ Marketing Services, Inc., and in 1987 purchased a building on River Road in Cos Cob to accommodate the growing staff. She worked at the company daily until she sold it to 21st Century Marketing in 2000 when she was 81 years old.

In 1995, Mrs. Zea received the Woman of the Year Award from Women's Direct Marketing International, an organization which she helped found in 1970 (originally called the Women's Direct Response Group). In 2000 Mrs. Zea received the Silver Apple Award from the Direct Marketing Club of New York. She served on the Board of Directors of the Family Centers in Greenwich.

Mrs. Zea was considered a pioneer by women in the direct marketing industry, and throughout her professional life, she was a mentor and role model for women in business. An avid environmentalist, she took great pleasure in bird watching and gardening. In 2003, Mrs. Zea moved to Atria Darien (formerly Sterling Glen) in Connecticut, where she worked with local school children in a literacy program and pursued her various community and cultural interests.

Survivors include her daughters, Kristi Zea of Valley Cottage, N.Y., and Marni Zea Clippinger of Cambridge, Mass.; and her two granddaughters, Norma Zea Kuhling and Emma Zea Clippinger.

A memorial service will be held at the Greenwich Audobon Society (613 Riversville Road) on Thursday, July 1, at 10:30 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her name to Gardens for Health (www.gardensforhealth.org), an organization based in Rwanda that was founded by her granddaughter, Emma.