In Memoriam
UPON HIS PASSING JORDAN KONOV HAS MADE THE THOMAS ROGERS SOCIETY THE BENEFICIARY OF A SUBSTANTIAL ENDOWMENT THAT WILL BE USED TO HONOR A DESERVING STUDENT, IN AN ANNUAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND, IN JORDAN’S NAME.
WE WISH TO EXPRESS A HEART FELT THANKS TO JORDAN AND HIS WIFE PATRICIA FOR THEIR ONGOING GENEROSITY TO THE SOCIETY AND TO THE FUTURE EDUCATION OF OUR CHILDREN.
Jordan A. Konov,75
Lawyer and Insurance Executive
Escaped from Communist Bulgaria
Jordan A. Konov, a prosecutor and judge, died on April 15, 2002, in his home on Blackman Road.
He was 75. Mr. Konov spent the first 30 years of his life in Bulgaria, where he grew up in Sofia and graduated with honors from Sofia University with a law degree.
During World War II, U.S. bombs destroyed houses across the street from his home, his father died from a stroke, and the communists overran the country, contributing to a turbulent adolescence. Because he and his widowed mother belonged to the upper class, nearly all of their property was confiscated, and he was forced to work in a uranium mine.
Nevertheless, he obtained a law degree and worked as a prosecutor and judge. But he was disturbed by the oppressive demands of the communist regime and plotted to escape from Bulgaria and was wounded while fleeing into Greece. After spending some time in Greece and Germany, he was brought to the United States during the McCarthy regime with its fanatical suspicions about anyone associated with communism. At first, despite his education, fluency in English, and ability, he found it difficult to get a job with any American company or business. He was eventually hired by Swiss Reinsurance in Manhattan.
He applied both his background in law and in accounting to his managerial position there. Having seen nearly all of his family’s possessions in Bulgaria confiscated, he was determined to achieve material well-being in America. He succeeded in this goal due to his business acumen and strong discipline. He and his former wife, Helen Mason, moved from Manhattan to Ridgefield in 1973. When her leukemia became debilitating, he took early retirement to care for her.
After her death, he married Patricia Jenkins,(“former President of the Thomas Rogers Society”) an English professor at Fairfield University, in 1981. During their years together, they took trips abroad; kept a diversified menagerie of dogs, cats, geese, ducks, and chickens, and enjoyed the cultural and social activities of Ridgefield. His genealogical research into his wife’s background resulted in her membership in several societies. “No one was prouder than Jordan when I was elected governor of the Society of Mayflower Descendants in Connecticut,” Mrs. Konov said.
“Jordan will be especially missed by the Men’s Club, and by the bridge groups” to which he and his wife belonged, most notably the seniors group at the Community Center.
“Jordan was a European gentleman whose generosity of spirit and sense of humor will be fondly remembered,” she said. There are no other immediate survivors.