Gretchen S. Zaloga

Longtime Riverhead resident Gretchen S. Zaloga died April 16.  She was 96.

Ms. Zaloga was born in Sag Harbor,  Oct. 21, 1917.  When she was about five years old her parents moved the family to Riverhead. She attended Riverhead High School, where she was active in sports and drama. Family members said she “simply loved to learn.” She graduated in 1935. 

Ms. Zaloga was a member and past president of the Riverhead Woman’s Club and she was a member of the Grace Episcopal Church in Riverhead.  Family members said she loved to garden, to read her favorite books and to travel with her husband, Bruno Zaloga Jr.

According to family members, family was most important to Ms. Zaloga.  She encouraged her children, Jeanne Lewin, Gretchen Mead and Tom Zaloga to do good things and increase their learning. She also loved telling them stories of her ancestrial families: the Steuarts, Sleights and Schmersals.

She was predeceased by her husband and is survived by her three children; her four grandchildren;  eight great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements were handled by Follett & Werner Funeral Home in Westhampton Beach. Friends and family will gather for a graveside ceremony, Monday, April 21, at St. John the Evangelist R.C. Cemetery in Riverhead.

Memorial contributions may be made to Grace Episcopal Church in Riverhead in Ms. Zaloga’s memory.