George Carlaftes ’27

GEORGE "CARL" Carlaftes of Orlando, Fla., died May 1, 1993, in Winter Park Memorial Hospital, after suffering a severe stroke on Easter Sunday.

Carl came to Princeton from Peddie School and was a member of the freshman football and baseball squads. He left college in 1925.

Here is his own account of his career, which he wrote in 1987: "After leaving Tigertown in 1925, joined father in flower business. Left during Depression years to work in better flower shops on Madison and Park Avenues. My last ten years at the WaldorfAstoria Florists were the most satisfying and interesting of my career. There I met the V.I.Ps and celebrities of the world, serving and taking are of their floral needs, never asking for autographs of the worldfamous or notorious personalities who resided in the Waldorf Towers and the New York Hilton, or the fabulous Arabs who took an entire floor of suites for their retinues.

"All in all, put in long hours of work in an industry that didn't pay well and no pensions. After the travail of many years it is a plus to arrive at my present stage, relaxed and mellowing like good old vintage wine."

He retired from the business in 1970, and moved from the Bronx to Lawrenceville, N.J., in 1974 and thence to Orlando in 1992.

George married Francis Edna Crooker in 1937 and she survives him, along with his son and two daughters. He also left six grandchildren and seven greatgrandchildren.

To his widow, daughters Marie Elena Nathan and Dianna Jizzary, son George Jr., and sister Margaret Triforos, the class extends its deepest sympathy.

The Class of 1927