Ethel M. Zybczynski

Oct. 18, 1923 – Nov. 24, 2013

Ethel M. Zybczynski, active on the state level in the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Colonial Dames, died Sunday in Buffalo General Medical Center after a short illness. She was 90.

Born Ethel Marie Ritchie in Brooklyn, she was a descendant of Richard Crum, who fought with the New York line of the Continental artillery in the Revolutionary War.

A licensed practical nurse, she lived in South Buffalo, raised two children and moved to Hamburg following the death of her husband, Stanley W., in 1988.

For the past three years, she was a resident of East Aurora.

A skilled seamstress, she worked for Joann Fabrics and made numerous articles of clothing for her granddaughters.

Mrs. Zybczynski joined the Abigail Fillmore Chapter of the DAR in 1982 and held many leadership positions in the chapter, including regent from 1988 to 1992.

In 1994, she was elected New York State director for District VIII, overseeing chapters of the eight Western New York counties.

As state organizing secretary from 1998 to 2001, she supervised chapters throughout the state. She also served for six years on the state organization's board of management.

Through the DAR, from 1997 to 2003 she served as the first chairwoman of the Golden Anniversary Veterans Library Committee, which established a reference library at Buffalo Veterans Affairs Medical Center to commemorate its 50th anniversary.

From 1992 to 2003, she also was a Veterans Affairs Voluntary Service representative, acting as a liaison between the hospital and the DAR chapters in the Buffalo area.

She joined Alice Putnam Chapter, Colonial Dames XVII Century, in 1992, serving as chapter president from 1995 to 1997. She was president of the state organization from 1997 to 1999.

She enjoyed camping and traveling.

Survivors include a daughter, Margaret Haney; three granddaughters; and seven great-grandchildren.

A Christian celebration of life will be at 10 a.m. Friday in Baker United Methodist Church, 345 Main St., East Aurora.