Daniel Lazar

Daniel Lazar passed peacefully away at home in Sonoma on September 22, 2011. He was 99. A native of Bogesdorf, Romania, Daniel was born to Kalman and Regina Lazar on September 1, 1912. He immigrated to the US at age 17, first moving to Ohio, where he worked at various jobs during the Great Depression and learned to speak English. He later moved to California where he worked as a chauffeur in Hollywood and then as a waiter, first in Pebble Beach and eventually in San Francisco. In San Francisco, he met Orta Stelling and they married on October 18, 1941, and settled in Sonoma where he became a poultry farmer. In 1943, Daniel was inducted into the US Army and served as a medic in the Asiatic Pacific campaign. He was awarded the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal. He returned home in December of 1945 and resumed his farming business. After he "retired" in 1980, he and his family planted wine grapes on his property, and he then worked for many years as a grape farmer, an occupation he had learned as a child growing up in Romania. He is survived by his loving wife of 70 years, Orta C. Lazar, by his loving children; Kristine Brook (Arthur); Daniel S. Lazar (Marcia); by his grandchildren: Cara and Christopher (Alexandra) Brook; Jennifer Shaw (Eric) and Kristi Lazar. Private Graveside Service Veteran's Memorial Park, Sonoma, CA. Arrangements under the direction of Duggan's Mission Chapel, Mission Cremation Service, 525 West Napa Street, Sonoma, CA.