Baldwin O.R. tech's passions included Elvis and politics

Unlike some middle-aged people during the late 1950s, Geraldine Zbozny knew a good thing when she heard it.

"I don't know what it was about him, but for some reason she just became smitten with Elvis Presley," said her son, Frank Zbozny, a devout jazz fan who admits he did not share his mother's affections for the pop music phenomenon. "She wasn't a fan of rock 'n' roll, she was a fan of Elvis. She enjoyed his music, his movies -- pretty much everything about him."

Geraldine V. Zbozny, of Baldwin, died Monday, Sept. 17, 2007. She was 89.

Born in the South Side, Geraldine Kautz was a 1935 graduate of Carrick High School. She married Frank Zbozny in 1937.

Just about anything associated with "The King" could bring a smile to her face -- she considered a trip to Elvis' Graceland home "a vacation of a lifetime."

Her son said Mrs. Zbozny was a highly intelligent woman with a deep understanding of history and politics.

"She never introduced the subject of politics into a conversation," Frank Zbozny said. "But if it came up, she would present an impeccably reasoned argument that was backed up by the facts."

After her two sons were grown, Mrs. Zbozny, at the age of 45, trained to be an operating room technician. In 1963 she embarked on a career that lasted 22 years at Mercy Hospital, Uptown. After retiring in 1985, she continued as a volunteer at the hospital and at her church.

"My mother had such an equable temperament -- nothing rattled her -- so working in a hospital operating room was truly the right job for her, and she really loved it," Frank Zbozny said.

People who got to know Mrs. Zbozny found her to be a kind, generous and gentle woman, her son said.

"The steel mill where my dad worked was on strike when I was entering Carnegie Tech in 1955," he said. "I had received a number of scholarships, but couldn't come up with the money for the application fees.

"Then all of a sudden, the money showed up, and the application was sent off. I found out years later that she hocked her wedding ring to get the money. I think that says a lot about the kind of woman she was," he said.

Another incident that occurred during the past year provided some insight into Mrs. Zbozny's adventurous spirit.

"She accidentally locked herself out of her apartment one day, so she went across the hall to her closest friend, Dorothy Carter, who suggested they call the building superintendent," her son said.

"But rather than bother anybody, my mother decided to break into her own apartment and crawl in through the bedroom window. It's an example of the resilience people of her generation have," he said.

In addition to her sons, Frank Zbozny of Claysville and Jim Zbozny of Seaside Park, N.J., Mrs. Zbozny is survived by five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Frank; a sister, Gladys Maloney; and a grandson, Michael.

Friends will be received from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. today at the John F. Slater Funeral Home Inc., 4201 Brownsville Road, Brentwood.

A prayer service will be conducted at the funeral home at 10:15 a.m. Friday followed by an 11 a.m. Mass of Christian Burial at St. Germaine Church, 7003 Baptist Road, Bethel Park.