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05/16/2012 02:00 PMLavinia "Vicky" Kebabian, 93, died peacefully at her home at The Village at Mariner's Point in East Haven on May 13. She was the wife of Robert Kebabian of New Haven. She was born Lavinia Mai Crawford on April 25, 1919 in a small town near Leeds, England, the youngest of seven children. She served proudly in the British Army in World War II and was one of the first women to land in France after the Normandy Invasion. She loved to tell stories, especially funny ones, and never tired of recounting her many interesting wartime experiences.
In 1957, she came to the U.S. with her daughter Jill, then age 7, and settled in New Haven. Eventually she became personnel director of New Haven Savings Bank, now First Niagara, where there are still people she hired who remember her fondly.
In the early 1970s she married Robert Kebabian and spent many happy years with him. She moved to The Village several years ago. She loved to walk every day, enjoyed reading and working in her garden, played tennis into her 80s, and returned to England often to visit her family.
Besides her husband, she is survived by her daughter, Jill Heathman of Branford.
A small graveside service to celebrate her life will be held in Center Cemetery, Branford, on Thursday, May 17, at 3:30 p.m. The W.S. Clancy Memorial Funeral Home, Branford, is in charge of arrangements. For directions and online memorial see www.wsclancy.com.