Irene Zarlengo, founder of the Volunteers of America Guild and tireless supporter of charities in Denver, has died.
Zarlengo, who was 78, spoke several languages, thanks to having been born in Warsaw, Poland, spending her childhood in Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia, her teen years in San Remo, Italy, and her early 20s in Chicago.
One word always tripped her up, though.
It was the word “no.” Especially if it was said to her during the 40 years that she staged some of Denver’s most spectacular charity fundraisers.
When that happened, “All of a sudden she can’t understand you,” Volunteers of America president Dianna Kunz said at a 2006 dinner honoring Zarlengo for having founded Volunteers of America Guild. As the guild’s perennial ways and means vice president, Zarlengo chaired events that contributed $1.1 million for two VOA shelters serving homeless and abused women.
Zarlengo died June 6 after five years of declining health. She had been in hospice care in the five days preceding her death.
“My mother ruled the Denver charity circuit for over 40 years and the reason she lasted so long is because she got things done in a big way,” says attorney Dianne Zarlengo. “Determination was the key to her success. She never took ‘no’ for an answer and she had no shame in begging and bullying the wealthy into buying tickets and tables, or in getting merchants to donate thousands of dollars. She never wanted to spend a dollar to produce a benefit; she had a real knack for getting everything donated.”
And, after every successful event, “She felt like she had done something that counted. Something that helped give the homeless, the hungry and the abused a better life.”
One of her earliest efforts was to bring tenor Luciano Pavarotti to town for an event benefiting what was then the Denver Symphony Orchestra. Dianne Zarlengo remembers that “The minute they met, it was Italian fire and hysteria. They remained good friends until his death in 2007.”
Fashion shows were her specialty, and managers at stores like Auer’s, Montaldo’s, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom dared not turn her down when she asked them to bring in lines from such celebrated designers as Yves Saint Laurent, Oscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrera and Richard Tyler for benefits she was chairing.
One of the most memorable happened in August, 1990, when, on behalf of the Samaritan House Guild, she organized the first charity function held in the Colorado Convention Center. Camels, llamas and costumed entertainers were stationed on the plaza outside to greet the 1,200 guests as they arrived for lunch and an Oscar de la Renta fashion show.
Zarlengo also organized the opening gala for the former Loews Giorgio Hotel, a benefit for the Mother Cabrini Shrine, as well as a 2001 luncheon starring Debbie Reynolds and her daughter, Carrie Fisher, for the Volunteers of America Guild.
When asked how the guild could afford to bring in such high-priced talent, Zarlengo responded in her heavily accented English: “We just get (VOA staffer) Michael James to write them a crying letter and they say yes immediately. Debbie can connect with us because she has had rough times, too, don’t forget.”
Zarlengo had a loyal group of friends who gladly gave their time to sell tickets, take reservations, make seating assignments and thank donors, no matter what nonprofit Zarlengo was helping.
Cathy Rinker was one of them. “The first event I did with her was an Yves Saint Laurent show in 1981 for the symphony. We did about 18 events together, until 1994. Every day spent with Irene was wild, but it was wonderful. We had a ball doing those events; she did them very well.”
Zarlengo also was known for her love of Champagne. “I think she loved it because its bubbles mirrored her effervescent personality,” Dianne Zarlengo says. “My mom once told me that the minute she stepped into the Grand Hyatt Denver, where most of her benefits were held, there were orders to put the Champagne on ice.”
Irene, who was born April 21, 1937, met another of her famous friends, Liberace, when she was working at the Chez Paris supper club in Chicago. He was a struggling pianist at the time and “He was part Polish, part Italian and spoke both languages, and she was a newly arrived immigrant who spoke no English. A friendship was formed and he helped her a lot during the two years she worked there,” Dianne remembers.
Chez Paris also was where she met the man she would marry, Denver attorney Art Zarlengo.
“He was meeting a client there, and thought my mother was stunning. He asked her for her phone number and she fibbed that she didn’t have a phone. He then asked her what her last name was and she replied, very quickly, ‘Bartoscwicz.’ The next morning, she was surprised and impressed when he called. He had looked her name up in the phone book. She couldn’t believe he knew how to spell it.”
Following a two-year courtship, they were married July 11, 1960, and they established their first home in North Denver. Art Zarlengo died Dec. 12, 2006.
In addition to Dianne Zarlengo, Irene is survived by another daughter, Rita Zarlengo-Reyther, an early childhood education teacher; grandson Tony Zarlengo-Reyther, a guitarist for the band Immortal Synn; one sister, Maria Ghinelli of Parma, Italy; and numerous nieces and nephews in Denver and Italy.
is at 11 a.m. June 15 at St.Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, 2375 E. Arizona Ave., Denver, with burial the following day at Mt. Olivet Cemetery. The family suggests memorial contributions to the Volunteers of America Guild, 2660 Larimer St., Denver, 80205, or Catholic Charities, 2301 Lawrence St., Denver, 80205.
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314, jdavidson@denverpost.com or twitter.com/joannedavidson
