Dr. Lena Lang Zappo, age 99, passed peacefully in her sleep on Friday, January 19, 2024.

Lee lived a long, full, and accomplished life surrounded by friends, family, and her faith.

Lee was born Lena Rafanello in Elizabeth, New Jersey on February 27, 1924. Her parents, Angelo and Maria (Ricci) Rafanello, had immigrated from Italy to the United States through Ellis Island. She and her younger brother, Benedict Rafanello, spent their childhood in New Jersey.

During World War II she served in the US Women's Army Corps (WAC). After the war, she married Howard Edgar Lang and began to pursue her college education. She attended William Patterson, New York, and Rutgers Universities, earning Doctorates in Education and Psychology. During her career, Lee worked as a special education teacher, child psychologist and psychometrist. Additionally, she was a professor at William Patterson and New York Universities.

Lee was loved and respected as a wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. She and Howard raised their children, Dorothy and Stephen, in the countryside of New Jersey. A city girl at heart, Lee returned to the Newark area where she later married Louis T. Zappo. Together they retired and spent many years enjoying life in Ocala, Florida. Lee loved the arts, and led tours as a docent at Ocala's Appleton Museum of Art. Lee loved to travel, share stories, play golf, practice yoga, and paint. She enjoyed a good book, a good joke, a sweet treat. She LOVED to dance!

In her later years Lee moved to Marietta, Georgia to be closer to family.

Lee is predeceased by her parents, Angelo and Maria Rafanello, and her brother Benedict Rafanello. She is survived by her daughter, Dorothy Lang, her son, Stephen Lang (Cynthia), her grandson, Austin Lang, granddaughter, Lindsey (Elmer) van der Klei, and great- grandchildren Mason, and Lucas van der Klei.

Lee will be memorialized at a future date with burial at the Georgia National Cemetery in Canton, Georgia. Living almost 100 years, Lee has touched many in multiple ways. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Lee's honor to a cause that was significant to the time you spent with her or to the R onald McDonald  House, Atlanta .