Obituary of Leonard Jay Zieff

Leonard (Lenny) Jay Zieff, 85, of Rockaway, NJ passed away on August 19, 2025 at CareOne Assisted Living in Parsippany, NJ.

Lenny was born on July 23, 1940 to Tillie (Goldstein) and Myron Zieff. He was a graduate of Evander Childs High School in The Bronx, NY, and attended the University of Bridgeport. Lenny served in the United States Army, in the 224th Ordinance Detachment during the Korean War. While in the Army he earned special commendations for his marksmanship skills. 

After the war Lenny worked as a window designer for Best & Co Department Stores in New York City. Lenny took his love for design and went on to run the family florist business, Victor’s Florist, in South Orange, NJ. He proudly ran his business, serving his community, for over 50 years, before retiring just last year at age 84. Lenny was well known for his lavish floral designs, which so closely matched his larger than life personality.

Along with running Victor’s Florist, Lenny’s passion was as an orchid grower. He had three large greenhouses attached to his home where he loved to go and spend time nurturing his thousands of orchids. Lenny was active in the North Jersey Orchid Society, and made friendships with orchid growers around the world, winning hundreds of awards. Lenny was also honored with having three orchids named after him, the Cattleya Len Zieff, the Laeliocattleya Len Zieff, and the Masdevallia Len Zieff.

Lenny was predeceased by his parents and his sister, Marilyn Tafro. He is survived by his niece, Fran (Ann) Carnevale, and his nephew, Barry (Cheryl) Goldin, and his great nieces and great nephew, Jennifer (Matthew) Speer, Kate (Ty) McBrayer, Andrew (Meagan) Goldin, and Kelly Regan. He is also survived by his many friends who were like family to him.

The family invites all who knew and loved Lenny to join them in a celebration of his life on September 27, 2025,  from 2:00PM to 4:00PM at Norman Dean Home for Services 16 Righter Avenue Denville, NJ 07834. www.normandean.com.