Pueblo County, Colorado
George Zaharias

Contributed by Jean Griesen and Karen Mitchell



George Zaharias was born on February 28, 1908 in Pueblo, Colorado. His real name was Theodore Vetoyanis, and his parents were Gust “Gus” C. Vetoyanis and Dimitra Jemma Vetoyanis. Gus and Dimitra were from Tripoli, Greece. Gus had begun coming to America in 1890 to find work and a better life. After three trips to America, the rest of the family, Dimitra, and their two daughters, Mary and Helen, finally joined Gus in America. Gus worked in the steel mill at Pueblo.

George was born at 1203 Elm Street in Pueblo, and was the first of his family to be born in America.

In 1910, there was a large population of Greeks in Pueblo; they numbered about 3,500. Huge numbers of young Greek bachelors and families were lured away to Texas homesteads. The Vetoyanis family, with their new baby Joan, born in October 1910, followed to Texas as soon as their baby could travel. The homestead venture, in swampy and snake-plagued land near Houston, was disappointing, partly because very few Greeks stayed there. More over, when the Vetoyanis family returned to Pueblo three years later, there were only about 400 Greeks in Pueblo.

Back in Pueblo, Gus got a job at Colorado Fuel & Iron (C. F. & I.), and Dimitra took in washing to help pay the bills. Two more sons were born to the family, Chris, born in August 1913, and Tom, born in August 1915. Dimitra, tired of washing clothes, wanted to be on the land, homesteading, and have a few chickens. According to later accounts by Joan, in about 1916, Dimitra got a horse and wagon. She took the three youngest children, Joan, Chris, and Tom, and drove them down near the Pleasant View School in Pueblo, south of Highway 50, and settled right down into the river bottom area. She put up a little shack. Later they moved into a nearby unoccupied house. They must have spent several years there, while Gus was living and working in Pueblo with George living with him. The two older sisters, Mary and Helen, had married at the tender young ages of twelve and thirteen.

Dimitra was a hard worker, but not much of a homemaker. She spent years traveling around Southern Colorado trying to get some land while young Joan would serve as the translater. Joan never went to school, and the authorities didn’t care if the girls went to school or when they married, but the truant officers were frequently coming for the Vetoyanis boys. Joan later learned to read and write when her younger brothers did, and she did attend a Greek school in the afternoons.

The one constant in their lives was life at the St. John Greek Orthodox Church. The Greek immigrants clung to this part of their lives, and it connected the Greeks in the Pueblo community. The Vetoyanis family spent much time at the church.

As an adult, George had become a large, strong man. He was an excellent wrestler and showman. He was dark-haired and handsome and wrestled at a weight of about 300 pounds. By 1928, George was a professional wrestler. His promoter changed his last name to Zaharias which is Greek for sugar.

His wrestling career was notorious. He was known in the wrestling world as the “Crying Greek from Cripple Creek.” He wrestled many of the biggest names of his time. He enjoyed his image as the “bad guy,” as is shown by the following article.

“CHICAGO -- George ("Cry Baby") Zaharias, the pouting pachyderm with the happy faculty of making the wrestling customers hate him even before he launches some of his quaint routines such as sticking his thumb in his opponents’ eyes or kicking them in the head as they lie prone on the canvas, is the new heavyweight grappling champion of the world.
Georgie, who already gloats in the distinction of being wrestling’s "Meanest man," wrested the heavyweight crown here the other night from the doctor’s No. 1 boy, Danno O’Mahoney, the flabby Irish grunter whose ability even to throw a snowball is open to very serious conjecture.
The transfer took place at a round-table discussion of itinerant sports writers the night Joe Louis disposed of Charley Retzlaff in 85 seconds, thus leaving them with a goodly part of the evening still on their theoretically ink-stained hands.
Such notables as Ernie Dusek, Ed Don George and even Man Mountain Dean have been mentioned as likely candidates. Good men, yes, with many sterling qualities, but none of these won the unqualified approval of the assembled journalists.
It required only one ballot to declare Zaharias the new champion, another log was placed on the fire and a committee appointed to notify Dr. Curley of the vote.
I would like to be among the first to congratulate the weeping Greek from Cripple Creek, Colo., and predict that his reign as champion will be one in which he will make many new enemies among the mat fans, who have learned to hate him so well and even become accustomed to paying for the privilege.
Mr. Zaharias, 27 years old and christened Theodore Vetoyanis, means to be mean and has practiced long at the art of making all the facial calisthentics of Frankenstein, Dracula and a red-faced subway guard packing another sardine on the Seventh Avenue express.
His public relations counsel pictures him as the sort whose greatest pleasure is to lead blind persons out into the middle of a busy intersection choked by traffic and then to desert them there. Other advertised Zaharias delights include the snatching of bottles from the mouths of babies in their buggies and the mashing of them on the pavements.
George’s mat career, as one of the most thoroughly disliked members of the trade, has been a long and profitable one, nurtured in a blasphemy of boos and Bronx cheers and embellished by his amazing repertoire of dirty tricks and his incredible assortment of whines, grunts, whinnyings and groans.”

“World’s Meanie-Est Elected Mat Champ,” By Jack Diamond, United Press, January 20, 1936
The following excerpt from the Ventura County, California newspaper tells more about George’s wrestling career.
“Nasty George Zaharias, the Crying Greek from Cripple Creek, will attempt to show local mat fans why he is dubbed "the meanest man in the world" when he tangles with Ed "Don" George, the Michigan thunderbolt, in the main event of matchmaker Ed Murphy's farewell party at the Ventura Athletic Club tonight.
Both of championship caliber, Zaharias and George are rated almost even by followers of the bone-bending game. George, however, relies mainly on straight wrestling, while Zaharias resorts to any type of foul play to win his matches.”

“Ed Murphy’s Farewell to Ventura,” Ventura County Star, Tuesday, August 4, 1936

Another article tells of more antics from George Zaharias.
…. “Jares told of Zaharias appearing in ‘a tank town’ and after the match ‘entered the dressing room and began to put on a show that the patrons outside could not see but could certainly hear. His crashing around and yelling and overturning chairs made it sound like D-Day was taking place in that little room. The old building couldn’t take it and the dressing room partially collapsed bringing lumber and plaster down on the wrestlers’ heads. After rescue by police and firemen, George groused, ’Why don’t you folks demand that the commission build a decent dressing room for the wrestlers’?
A policeman pulled the last bit of debris off Zaharias’ corpulent body and replied, “I happen to be the commissioner and you’re getting a bill for a new building tomorrow”….

“Crying Greek from Cripple Creek,” by Tom Mcewen, Tampa Tribune, 1982
George’s success in wrestling attracted his brothers into the sport as well. Chris and Tom also changed their last names to Zaharias, and were fairly well-known wrestlers. Chris Davros, George’s nephew, also went into wrestling. He too wrestled under the last name of Zaharias, and later wrestled under the name “Babe” Zaharias, a play on names, identifying with the famous sportswoman.

George was also a sports promoter, and was reportedly making a fortune by the time that 1938 rolled around. George played golf as well, and played in the 1938 Los Angeles Open, a men’s Professional Golfers’ Association tournament. He was put into a threesome for the tournament with C. Pardee Erdman, a Presbyterian minister who was professor of religion at Occidental College, and Babe Didrikson, a woman who was a former Olympic athlete in the 1932 Olympic Games and one of the best female athletes of the times. George, ever the showman, reportedly said, “I'm not playing with no damn woman.” Eventually, however, George agreed to play.

They drew a fair amount of attention. Sports photographers, forever looking for an angle, egged the big, good-natured Zaharias to demonstrate various wrestling holds on Didrikson, who was apparently up for anything. Although they had met only minutes earlier, they hammed it up for the cameras. And even though the pros were tearing the place apart and posting some spectacular rounds (there were two 65s on the first day of the tournament), nearly the entire gallery followed the minister, the wrestler and the woman. But Didrikson recalled, "Those people didn't see too much good golf." She shot an 84. Zaharis had an 83. Rev. Erdman, though, was on his game, shooting a 75.

George and Babe were smitten after the first round though. After a few months, they were engaged. They married on December 23, 1938, and Zaharias thereafter gave up his wrestling career and managed his wife's career. They loved to dance, and no one doubts that they were in love.

Babe Didrikson was born on June 26, 1911 in Texas, the daughter of Norwegian immigrants. She was slim and of average height, but had a muscular body and was exceptionally well coordinated. She was a tomboy who shunned feminine qualities. Babe was outstanding at any sport that she tried. She stunned the athletic world on July 16, 1932, with her performance at the national amateur track meet for women in Evanston, Illinois. Didrikson entered the meet as the sole member of the Golden Cyclone team and by herself won the national women's team championship by scoring thirty points. The Illinois Women's Athletic Club, which had more than twenty members, scored a total of twenty-two points to place second. In all, Didrikson won six gold medals and broke four world records in a single afternoon. Her performance was the most amazing feat by any individual, male or female, in the annals of track-and-field history. The outstanding performance at Evanston put Didrikson in the headlines of every sports page in the nation and made her one of the most prominent members of the United States Olympic team of 1932.

Although Didrikson had gained wide recognition in her chosen field of athletics, many of her fellow athletes resented her. They complained that she was an aggressive, overbearing braggart who would stop at nothing in order to win. During the trip to Los Angeles for the Olympic Games, many of her teammates came to detest her, but her performance during the Olympiad made her a favorite among sportswriters and with the public. At Los Angeles, Didrikson won two gold medals and a silver medal, set a world's record, and was the co-holder of two others. She won the javelin event and the eighty-meter hurdles and came in second in the high-jump event amid a controversy which saw two rulings of the judges go against her. Didrikson came very close to winning three Olympic gold medals, which had never been accomplished before by a woman. She became the darling of the press, and her performance in Los Angeles created a springboard for Didrikson's lasting fame as an athlete.

During the mid-1930's, Didrikson's athletic interests increasingly shifted to golf, thereby setting up her famous meeting with George Zaharias. She was an excellent golf player. Under George’s direction, she won the 1940 Texas and Western Open golf tournaments. Working hard to “feminize” her image, Babe painted her nails, grew her hair out, and used the dress code to her advantage, showing up for tournaments in chic skirts instead of the tailored trousers that a few adventurous ladies were trying to get past the rulebook. George’s idea of a greeting with Babe was to put her in an affectionate headlock. It was a cheerful, companionable marriage. George not only took over the managing and promoting of her career, but helped her create a comfortable home. Possibly Babe had already tired of the wandering life of golf touring (living out of a suitcase, overnighting in endless motel rooms) and was grateful to have a permanent residence somewhere. She went on playing, earning big money, but she also let herself be photographed at home in a frilly apron, cooking, sewing, and ironing. She even planted a rose garden. They did not have any children, but tried to adopt a child. However, they were unable to do so, because the rules were too strict during that time period. After getting married, George and Babe lived in a fashionable suburb of Denver.

Pushed by her manager/husband and her own high standards well beyond the comfort level, Babe's practice sessions were deservedly legendary. According to George Zaharias in a 1957 Look magazine interview, in order to win, Babe drove balls with taped, bloodied and sore hands and complied with his grueling schedules. As Babe herself often said, “I've always been a fighter. Ever since I was a kid, I've scrapped for everything. I want to win every time. If a game is worth playing, it's worth playing to win.” Babe devoted herself to perfecting her golf game with the same ferocity that she brought to the Olympic high hurdles and javelin toss. She was equally dominant in her newly chosen arena – golf.

While no one liked to win more than Zaharias, golf was showbiz, too. Babe might tee off on No. 1 and, regardless of where she stood on the board, she would turn to the gallery and say, “Come on, folks, follow me and I'll show you how to play this game.” Her greeting in the locker room to her fellow players was often, “Who's gonna be second?”

During World War II, Babe Zaharias gave golf exhibitions to raise money for war bonds and agreed to abstain from professional athletics for three years in order to regain her amateur status. In 1943, the United States Golf Association (USGA) restored her amateur standing.

After the war, Babe Zaharias emerged as one of the most successful and popular women golfers in history. In 1945, she played flawless golf on the amateur tour and was named Woman Athlete of the Year for the second time. The following year, she began a string of consecutive tournament victories, a record which has never been equaled by man or woman. During the 1946-1947 seasons, Zaharias won seventeen straight tournaments, including the British Women's Amateur. She became the first American to win the prestigious British championship. In the summer of 1947, Zaharias turned professional once again, with Fred Corcoran as her business manager. She earned an estimated $100,000 in 1948 through various promotions and exhibitions, but only $3,400 in prize money on the professional tour, despite a successful season. In 1948, Corcoran organized the Women’s Professional Golf Association (WPGA) in order to help popularize women's golf and increase tournament prize money. During the next several years, the WPGA grew in stature and Zaharias became the leading money winner on the women's professional circuit. George and Babe were living in Denver, Colorado in 1947. During these later years, George’s weight ballooned to almost 400 pounds, and he began drinking.

In the process of winning all of these tournaments, she broke the mold of what a "lady" golfer was supposed to be. The ideal in the 1920's and 1930's was Joyce Wethered, a willowy Englishwoman with a picture-book swing that produced elegant shots but not especially long ones. Zaharias developed a grooved athletic swing reminiscent of Lee Trevino's, and she was so strong off the tee that a fellow Texan, the great golfer Byron Nelson, once said that he knew of only eight men who could outdrive her. “It's not enough just to swing at the ball,” Babe said. “You've got to loosen your girdle and really let the ball have it.”

They moved to Chicago for a short while, and then in 1949, George and Babe moved to Tampa, Florida and bought the Forest Hills Golf and Country Club. There were riding stables located on the south end of the property and a magnificent two-story clubhouse that included a ballroom. The original course layout had only 10 homes scattered around it. They built a house near the clubhouse. At the nearby Palma Ceia Country Club, in 1950, Babe and George helped form the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). Of course, she could beat all the men at golf at the club, where friends say she cursed with the men, then had tea with the women. Babe served as the LPGA Tour President from August 1952 through July 1955.

By 1950, Babe had made a new close friend. Betty Dodd, 19, was a promising new star on the women’s golf tour. They traveled to tournaments together. Betty became a permanent guest at the Zaharias home in Tampa for years.

The story of George’s and Babe’s life together was the basis for the movie, “Pat and Mike.” It came out in 1952, and Babe starred in it in a minor role as a woman golfer beside Katharine Hepburn.

In the spring of 1953, doctors discovered that Babe Didrikson Zaharias had cancer, and she underwent radical surgery in April 1953. Betty put her own promising career on hold and became Babe’s devoted caregiver and constant companion. Although many feared that her athletic career was over, Babe played in a golf tournament only fourteen weeks after the surgery. She played well enough the remainder of the year to win the Ben Hogan Comeback of the Year Award. In 1954, Babe won five tournaments, including the United States Women's Open, and earned her sixth Woman Athlete of the Year Award. During 1955, doctors diagnosed that the cancer had returned, and she suffered excruciating pain during her final illness. Though Babe won the very last tournament she ever played in, the 1955 Peach Blossom Open, ultimately it was the cancer that was winning. By the end of the year, in increasing pain, Babe began checking into and out of the John Sealy Hospital in Galveston. At Christmas she visited her close friend and mentor, Bertha Bowen. Babe asked to be taken to a golf course. Bowen drove her to the nearby golf club on the 26th of December and, in a bathrobe and slippers and barely able to walk, Babe knelt down on the second green to touch the winter grass like a poet reading braille.

Despite the pain, Zaharias continued to play an occasional round of golf and, through her courage, served as an inspiration for many Americans. She died at John Sealy Hospital in Galveston, Texas from colon cancer on September 27, 1956. She was buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Beaumont, Texas, where she had spent her childhood years. Her shrine-like gravestone in Beaumont, Texas, which fittingly dominates the family burial plot, has the following epitaph: “It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.”

Babe Didrikson Zaharias was a remarkable woman in many respects. Her place in American sports history is secure in her athletic accomplishments alone. In addition to her six Woman Athlete of the Year Awards, she was named the Woman Athlete of the Half Century by the Associated Press in 1950. No other woman has performed in so many different sports so well. She is arguably the greatest woman athlete of all time.

During her final illness, Zaharias displayed the kind of strength and courage which was a trademark of her career. She was a great athlete, but beyond that she was a courageous pioneer blazing a trail in women's sports which others have followed.

George continued to live in Tampa after Babe’s death. Following Babe’s death, the golf course closed. George eventually sold the golf course. In 1962, the clubhouse on the Forest Hills Golf Course burned. The golf course fell into disrepair. In 1974, the city of Tampa re-opened the golf course as the Babe Zaharias Golf Course, affectionately called “The Babe.” The golf course is still open and in great shape in 2006. George helped many young golfers hone their game. He was instrumental in the creation of the Associated Press’ Woman Athlete of the Year Award, called the Babe Zaharias trophy.

These years after Babe’s death must have been lonely years. George must have thought more and more about his roots in Pueblo as the years passed and life quieted down without Babe. A few years after Babe’s death, George called the owners of a little family-run Mexican restaurant in Pueblo. He asked the owners of Velasco’s if they would like to open a restaurant in Florida. He told the owners that the Spanish-Cuban food in Florida just wasn’t the same as Velasco’s Mexican food, but the owners turned him down.

George lost a number of family members in the 1960s. His father died in 1960, his mother in 1963, and his younger brother, Chris, in 1966. His father’s obituary in 1960 stated that George was living in Los Angeles, but this is believed to have been short-lived, as he spent most of his years after Babe’s death in Tampa.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the sports desk of TV station WTVT in Tampa began to provide more coverage to professional wrestling. George Zaharias began to pay a weekly visit to Channel 13 (WTVT). Pete Johnson, one of the sportscasters, had this to say about these visits.

“Big George, complete with cauliflower ears from his battles in the ring, would come by and sit in Sol’s office and talk with us about the latest events in sports. George was a major benefactor of children’s golf in the Tampa Bay area and we did many stories on the program. But Andy also liked to tease the big man. Sol had a 10-inch metal ashtray with the Mack truck bulldog logo in the center. But the thing that made this ashtray really unique was that when it was struck by a certain writing pen, the clang would sound exactly like a bell used in wrestling and boxing matches. This was the stimuli that would set Big George off! He reacted like he was about to step in the ring for another match. Realizing that he'd been had, George probably would have liked to get Andy into a headlock! When George returned for future visits, he’d grab the ashtray and guard it from the mischievous Andy.”

George suffered a stroke in 1974, and was confined to a wheelchair afterwards.

A movie of Babe Zaharias’ life was made in 1975, and was called “Babe.” George married his childhood sweetheart from Pueblo on Valentine’s Day in 1981. Her name was Harriet (Rougas) Apostolos, and she was the daughter of John and Katherine (Taus) Rougas of Pueblo. She was eight years younger than George, having been born on March 30, 1916. She had been a state tennis champion in high school. She had first married to James Apostolos, who died in 1961. It is believed that George and Harriet lived in Tampa while they were married. She not only was his wife, but is noted in several sources to have been his nurse as well.

George’s credentials that he gained as a world-class wrestler from 1932 to 1938 were impressive enough to have him inducted into the Hellenic Athletic Hall of Fame for Greek athletes in November of 1982. George had diabetes and began to have dialysis. He suffered a stroke around 1982 and had a pacemaker installed. George was in failing health for several years.

George Zaharias died on May 22, 1984 in Tampa, Florida at the age of 76. He was buried in Roselawn Cemetery in Pueblo, Colorado next to his younger brother, Tom, and in the same cemetery as his parents. His obituary from the Colorado Springs, Colorado newspaper is as follows:

“Services for George Zaharias, whose first wife was the late golf great Babe Didrikson Zaharias, will be at noon today in St. John Greek Orthodox Church, 1010 Spruce St., Pueblo. Interment will be in Roselawn Cemetery.
Friends may call from 8 to 11 a.m. today at George McCarthy Almont Funeral Home, Pueblo.
Mr. Zaharias, 76, died Tuesday in a Tampa, Fla., hospital.
He was born Theodore Vetoyanis on Feb. 27, 1908, in Pueblo. He was a world-class wrestler 1932-38, known in the ring as “The Crying Greek from Cripple Creek.” He retired from wrestling in 1938 to marry and manage Miss Didrikson, an Olympic champion athlete who died from cancer in 1956.
The Zahariases moved in the early 1950s to Tampa, where Mr. Zaharias lived until his death.
Mr. Zaharias helped many young golfers hone their game and was instrumental in the creation of what became the Ladies Professional Golf Association. He was instrumental, too, in the creation of the Associated Press’ Woman Athlete of the Year Award, called the Babe Zaharias trophy.
He was inducted into the Athletic Hellenic Hall of Fame 18 months ago.
Survivors include his wife, Harriet, who was his childhood sweetheart when he lived in Pueblo, and two stepchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to St. John Greek Orthodox Church.”
Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph, Saturday, May 26, 1984

Harriet returned to live in Colorado Springs, Colorado after George died. She lived another twenty years, dying in 2004. The following is her obituary. She was buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs.

“Harriet Apostolos Zaharias, a resident of Colorado Springs since 1942 and formerly of Pueblo passed away on Thursday, August 19, 2004 at her home. She was a homemaker who had worked for Hibbard's Department Store and Brian & Scott Jewelers. She was a member of Archangel Michael Greek Orthodox Church of Colorado Springs, St. John's Greek Orthodox Church of Pueblo and St. George's Greek Orthodox Church of Palm Desert, California. She was a member of the Brindley Guild and a former Governor of the Philoptochos Society of the Greek Orthodox Church.
Harriet Rougas was born in Pueblo, Colorado to John and Katherine (Taus) Rougas. She attended schools in Pueblo and graduated from Pueblo Central High School where she was a State Tennis Champion. She married James Apostolos on April 19, 1942. James died on March 3, 1961. She married George Zaharias on Valentine's Day in 1981. George passed away in May of 1985.
Harriet is survived by her loving son, Theodore J. Apostolos of Colorado Springs; and two sisters: Irene Ingle of Montrose, Colorado and Elaine Scott of Colorado Springs. She is also survived by her brother, Dean J. (wife, Allura) Rougas of Houston, Texas and several nieces and nephews.
Mrs. Zaharias was preceded in death by her daughter, Katherine D. Apostolos; three brothers: George, Peter, and Jon Rougas; and two sisters: Georgia Lucas and Norma Nichols.
Harriet loved traveling, needlework, arts and crafts, gardening, reading, and cooking. She was a woman of faith with a wonderful sense of humor who loved her family and her church. She was most proud of her children.
Funeral Services will be held at 10:00 a.m., on Wednesday, August 25, 2004 at the Shrine of Remembrance "America the Beautiful" Chapel of Roses, 1730 East Fountain Boulevard, Colorado Springs, Colorado. A Trisagion will be said at 7:00 p.m., on Tuesday at the Shrine of Remembrance. Burial will be at Evergreen Cemetery. A luncheon reception will follow the services at 12:00 noon on Wednesday, at the Olympian Plaza Reception and Event Center, 975 South Union Boulevard, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Memorials may be made in Harriet's memory to St. John's Greek Orthodox Church, 1010 Spruce Street, Pueblo, Colorado 81004 or to Archangel Michael Greek Orthodox Church, 2215 Paseo Drive, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80907.”
The Gazette, Colorado Springs, Colorado, August 22, 2004

Despite his death, George’s influence lives on in many ways. His niece, Penny Zavichas, inspired and first taught by her Aunt Babe, became very active in golf and excelled in her game. She has won a number of awards in golf, and also formed a golf school with partner, Linda Craft. Penny has twice won the LPGA Teacher of the Year award. The good work started by her Uncle George Zaharias and Aunt Babe Zaharias lives on.

SOURCES:
1. Federal census records from 1920 and 1930 from Pueblo County, Colorado.
2. Social Security Death Index (SSDI) entry for George Zaharias, provided online at http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/.
3. “World’s Meanie-Est Elected Mat Champ,” By Jack Diamond, published by the United Press, January 20, 1936, provided by the Wrestling As We Liked It (WAWLI) Papers online at http://www.wrestlingclassics.com/wawli/New231-240.htm.
4. “Ed Murphy’s Farewell to Ventura,” Ventura County Star, Tuesday, August 4, 1936, from website http://www.wrestlingclassics.com/wawli/Nos.738-746.htm.
5. “Crying Greek from Cripple Creek,” by Tom McEwen, Tampa Tribune, 1982, provided online as a part of “Out of the Mouths of Pros: Part II,” by Bob Allyn, at The Armpit, a wrestling website, at http://www.armpitwrestling.com/Guest/OutofMouthsofProsJul05.htm.
6. “A Day at the Fair With $1 to Spend a Highlight of Childhood Memories,” by Gail Pitts, Pueblo Chieftain, Monday, October 31, 1994.
7. “Pueblo’s Greek Tradition Wanes,” by Margie Wood, Pueblo Chieftain, Sunday, March 21, 1999.
8. “Zavichas Reveled in History of Greeks in United States,” by Margie Wood, Pueblo Chieftain, Saturday, April 1, 2000.
9. Social Security Death Index (SSDI) entry for Joan C. Zavichas, provided online at http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/.
10. Social Security Death Index (SSDI) entry for Chris Vetoyanis, provided online at http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/.
11. Social Security Death Index (SSDI) entry for Tom Zaharias, provided online at http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/.
12. “A First on the Links,” by Mike Eberts, Griffith Park History Project, Glendale Community College, provided online at http://english.glendale.cc.ca.us/babe.html.
13. “The Babe,” by Tod Leonard, San Diego Union-Tribune, published May 20, 2003, provided online at http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/golf/20030520-9999_mz1s20babehtml.
14. “Babe Zaharias, Most Valuable Player,” by Charles McGrath, The New York Times, Heroine Worship, published in 1996, provided online at http://www.nytimes.com/specials/magazine4/articles/zaharias.html
15. “One Amazing Babe,” by Jim Moriarty, Golf World, May 2, 2003, provided online at http://www.golfdigest.com/newsandtour/index.ssf?/newsandtour/gw20030502babe.html
16. “Babe Didrikson Zaharias,” DISCovering Biography on GaleNet, provided online at http://www.gale.com/free_resources/whm/bio/didriksonzaharias_b.htm.
17. “’The Texas Tomboy’ The Life and Legend of Babe Didrikson Zaharias,” by Susan E. Cayleff, reprinted from the OAH (Organization of American Historians) Magazine of History 7, published in Summer 1992, provided online at http://www.oah.org/pubs/magazine/sport/cayleff.html.
18. “Didrikson Was a Woman Ahead of Her Time,” by Larry Schwartz, special to ESPN.com, provided online at http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00014147.html.
19. “The LPGA, A Timeline,” LPGA.com, official website of the Ladies Professional Golf Association, provided online at http://www.lpga.com/content/Timeline100305.pdf. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/classic/bio/news/story?page=Didrikson_Babe.
20. “Mildred “Babe” Zaharias,” from “Cigar City Characters,” from Tampa Bay Online, published June 20, 2004, provided online at http://news.tbo.com/news/MGBDOZ9COVD.html.
21. “Babe Zaharias,” Third and Last in Series, by Will Grimsley, dated 195?, Babe Didrikson Collection, held in the Mary and John Gray Library Special Collections, Lamar University Archives, Beaumont, Texas.
22. Course history of Babe Zaharias Golf Course in Tampa, Florida, provided online at http://www.babezahariasgc.com/content.php?link=course_history.php.
23. “Babe Zaharias Golf Course,” On the Tee, published 12/21/2004, provided online at http://www.golfersguide.com/editorial.php?editorial_id=813.
24. “Colorado’s Historical Newspaper Collection,” provided online by the Colorado State Library and the Colorado Historical Society at http://www.cdpheritage.org/collection/chnc.cfm.
25. Brief statement about Chris Davros, nephew to George Zaharias, Ed Murphy’s Farewell to Ventura from Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling, February 1955, Kayfabe Memories, “Where Wrestling’s Regional History Lives,” provided online at http://www.kayfabememories.com/Regions/gccw/gccw21.htm.
26. “Channel 13 Sports Memories,” by Pete Johnson, Big 13, WTVT, Channel 13, Tampa and St. Petersburg, provided online at http://www.big13.net/petestory.htm.
27. Obituary for Gust C. Vetoyanis, father of George Zaharias, Pueblo Chieftain, July 19, 1960.
28. Obituary for Tom Zaharias, brother of George Zaharias, Pueblo Star Journal, May 19, 1974.
29. Obituary for Joan C. Zavichas, sister of George Zaharias, Pueblo Chieftain, March 30, 2000.
30. “Local Restaurateur Montoya Dies at 76,” by Gail Pitts, Pueblo Chieftain, Wednesday, June 30, 1993.
31. Obituary for George Zaharias, Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph, Colorado Springs, Colorado, Saturday, May 26, 1984.
32. “Husband of Athlete Babe Zaharias Dies,” Beaumont Enterprise, May 23, 1984, Babe Didrikson Collection, held in the Mary and John Gray Library Special Collections, Lamar University Archives, Beaumont, Texas.
33. “George Zaharias,” wrestling obituaries at Bodyslammin’ 4ever, provided online at http://www.bodyslamming.com/obits.html.
34. Burial records from Roselawn Cemetery, Pueblo, Pueblo County, Colorado, provided online at www.roselawnpueblo.com/genealogy/.
35. Roselawn Information from Roselawn Cemetery (Pueblo, Colorado) Historical Walking Tour Guide, written by JoAnne West Dodds, provided online at http://www.roselawnpueblo.com/resources/History_Guide.pdf.
36. Social Security Death Index (SSDI) entry for Harriet Apostolos, provided online at http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/.
37. Obituary for Harriet (Rougas) Apostolos Zaharias, second wife of George Zaharias, The Gazette, Colorado Springs, Colorado, August 22, 2004.
38. “The Babe is Back on Long Island,” American Cancer Society website, published in 2007, shown at http://www.cancer.org/docroot/COM/content/div_Eastern/COM_5_1x_The_Babe_is_Back_on_Long_Island.asp?sitearea=COM.
39. “Now’s Time To Tune Up Swing – Penny Zavichas Marks 30th Year of Golf School,” by Joe E. Cervi, Pueblo Chieftain, Wednesday, May 6, 1998.
40. “Golf Legend Zavichas Joins GPSA Hall of Fame,” by Judy Hildner, Pueblo Chieftain, November 8, 2002.



to the Pueblo County Index Page.


Please e-mail comments and suggestions toKaren Mitchell.
© Karen Mitchell