Estelle Ives Zahn (née Pooley), 87, of Essex, died in Essex on Dec. 12. She was born on Feb. 11, 1925 in Plymouth England. While working at the Royal Navy Dockyard at Devonport, England in 1945, she met and married USN Commander Paul Irvine. They lived in post war Naples, Italy, before moving to New York City. Together they ran Muirhead Instruments in  central New Jersey until Paul’s death on Estelle’s birthday in 1964.

In 1966, Estelle married Loyal T. Ives, president of the Steiner Ives Company of Newark, New Jersey, and they were long-time residents of Princeton, New Jersey, where Estelle served as the president of Loyal’s Princeton University alumni class of 1925.

Estelle was again widowed in 1985 and subsequently married her longtime friend Valentine Zahn of Essex, retired controller for AT&T, who predeceased her in 1989.

Estelle was an avid bridge player and was a member of the Essex Yacht Club, the Old Lyme Country Club, and St. John’s Episcopal Church in Essex. She will be missed by extended family members of Paul Irvine and Loyal Ives, all of whom considered her a close family member.  She will be remembered for her sophistication, loyalty, sharp wit, and intellect.

She is survived by a niece and nephews in Europe, children of her late sister Florence Mary Hooper.

The Robinson, Wright & Weymer Funeral Home, Centerbrook, was in charge of arrangements.