- Date Of Birth: November 3, 1921
- Date Of Death: November 5, 2015
- State: Connecticut
Tefta Alyse (Peters) Norton of Colchester and formerly of Somers and Rockville, died peacefully at Hartford Hospital on November 5th, 2015, surrounded by her loving children. She was born in Franklin, NH, eldest child of Nicholas and Frosina (Naum) Peters. Her parents immigrated to the United States in the early 1900’s from Albania seeking a better life for themselves and their children.
Tefta was named for the celebrated ancient Albanian/Illyrian queen Tefta or Teuta [abt. 231-227 B.C.], famed for her extraordinary naval exploits in the Adriatic Sea and political savvy against the Roman Empire. Like her namesake, Tefta was bold, adventurous and spirited, fearlessly meeting each new challenge that life presented head-on with intelligence, grace and style.
One of Tefta’s proudest memories was making Franklin High School’s varsity field hockey team as a freshman in 1936 and winning the New Hampshire State Championship that same year. Shortly thereafter, she and her family moved to Charlton, MA, where she continued to develop her considerable athletic and academic gifts, graduating as Salutatorian of the class of 1939. Tefta was always a fiercely keen competitor and became a champion bowler later in life, holding high triple and high singles records for many years, and was inducted into the Connecticut Duckpin Bowling Hall of Fame. She followed sports avidly and was especially passionate about the New York Yankees and UCONN Huskies college basketball.
