Obituary of Phyllis Lynn Vajda

Phyllis Lynn Vajda, 75, of Denver, Colorado passed away on June 24th, 2024 due to complications after surgery.

Phyllis was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey on November 7th, 1948 to Andrew and Shirley Vajda. She graduated in 1966 from New Brunswick High School then graduated with honors from Boston University in 1970 with a triple major in Education, History and Government which merely hinted at the full and rounded life she would go on to live. Phyllis’ varied work history is a collage representing her thirst to live every side of life. She taught high school Social Science for 7 years before becoming the executive recruiter at a major department store. Phyllis used these same talents while recruiting doctors for hospitals and private practices. Her final career change found her working for the government as a U.S. Census Data Collector; a job that allowed her to indulge in
her greatest passion in life, spending time with people. “She never met a stranger,” said one of her many friends when Phyllis served on the Social Committee at The Lighthouse Villas Community in Denver. Phyllis was abundantly generous with her time and was an active member of the community. She ran their annual garage sale and was proud of her status as the last original resident of the community. Phyllis was also busy in Denver’s Jewish community, raising money and once serving as Regional Director of the Jewish Federation, Denver. Somehow Phyllis still found time for hobbies like hiking, pickleball, traveling and thrifting.
She was a certified scuba diver and collector of art. Mostly, she loved walking her beloved dog, Norman, with her friends. She was especially proud of her long friendship with Dawn Richards and of Dawn’s daughter, Talia, who was Phyllis’ goddaughter. Phyllis cherished her friends. Her ease with people was her superpower, and she stayed in touch with classmates as far back as Kindergarten. But it was her time spent with family that she loved most, especially at her infamous Goddess Parties with her nieces, Erica Lefkowits, Jenna Birch and Sandra Corddry and her great nieces, Eliana [Szabo], Leah, Mia, Indrid [Corddry] and Marlo.

Phyllis is survived by these fellow goddesses along with her sister, Georgene Lefkowits and her brother Freddy [Vajda] and his wife, Deborah and their sons Zachary, Jeremy and his wife Patricia. Although they didn’t quite fit the prerequisites for attending a Goddess Party her great-nephews Hunter [Vajda], Grayson, Grant [Cohen] and Austin were no less dear to her. Her great-nieces Preston [Birch] and Kennedy who, though too young for the parties, were goddesses to Phyllis nonetheless. She is also survived by her nieces’ husbands Andrew Szabo, Robert Corddry and Chandler Birch who got to hear all the stories.
She is predeceased by her parents, her brother in law, Leo Lefkowits, and her dogs, Blanche and Stanley.

A memorial will be held on Friday, July 5th from 4:00 to 6:00 at The Clubhouse, 1011 S. Valentia St. Denver, Colorado 80247. In lieu of flowers, please send corned beef hash (That’s a joke. Please don’t send corned beef hash. Phyllis just really loved it.) Phyllis generously donated to so many charities it would be impossible to choose one. So, in lieu of flowers donations can be made to a charity that is dear to you, in Phyllis’ name.