Verna I Tozian's Obituary
Verna Tozian, 92, died peacefully of natural causes early Saturday, June 1, 2019, at the Florida Hospital, in Tampa, Florida. Verna was born in Peoria, Illinois, on July 2, 1926, the daughter of Cecil Benson and Irene Breymeier. She had one sister (who preceded her in death), Jean Benson Dawes, of Daytona Beach, Florida. Verna was married for 57 years to George K. Tozian (who preceded her in death in 2007), a former fighter pilot in the U.S. Army Air Forces and a career manager and engineering department executive for General Telephone and Electronics (GTE) in Tampa Florida.
For the entirety of her life in Florida, Verna, formerly a Bell Telephone Company employee in her home state of Illinois, focused on being the consummate homemaker and mother, raising five sons. She enjoyed a reputation among her large community of friends in Tampa as the chaperone and hostess who routinely shepherded her children and countless classmates, teammates, and (rock ‘n’ roll) bandmates to the zoo, sports events, and musical performances. She likewise spent decades welcoming countless droves of her sons’ friends and party guests into the Tozian household. Over the years, many a Tampa teenager with the blues would show up at the Tozian residence unannounced to seek advice for what, no doubt at the time, seemed a heavy burden, seeking advice and always receiving an open heart and sympathy from “Mrs. T.”
Verna is survived by her sons Greg of Portland, Oregon, and Scott (and his wife, Susan), Mark (and his wife, Conway), Gary (and his wife, Chris), and Terry, of Tampa. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Mickey Tozian, of St. Petersburg, Florida, and Mitchell and Carly Tozian, of Gainesville, Florida, as well her three nieces, of Daytona Beach, Florida.
A service of remembrance will be held on Thursday, June 27, 2019, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., at Boza & Roel Funeral Home, 4730 North Armenia Avenue, Tampa, Florida. In lieu of flowers, the family requests gestures of remembrance and support be made by a donation to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (www.alzfdn.org).
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