Stamford, CT — The city of Stamford is mourning the loss of one of its most dedicated and beloved community figures. Nicola “Nic” Tarzia, a lifelong resident, businessman, educator, and civic leader who was actively running for Mayor of Stamford in 2025, has passed away.
The news was shared by members of the Stamford Republicans Facebook group, where friends, colleagues, and community members expressed their grief and paid tribute to a man who gave so much of himself to the city he called home.
Tarzia was born and raised in Stamford, and by all accounts, he never stopped investing in it. He founded the Tarzia Group, a real estate development company that became a testament to his belief in hard work, entrepreneurship, and building something meaningful in the community where he grew up.
His business success was not something he kept to himself. He channeled it back into Stamford in countless ways, serving on the Board of Education, supporting the Stamford Public Education Foundation, running the Tarzia Foundation, and championing the Dollars for Scholars program that helped local students pursue higher education.
Those who knew him describe a man who walked into every room with a smile and left people feeling better than when he arrived.
He was the kind of person who remembered your name, asked about your family, and genuinely meant it when he said he wanted to help. That warmth was not a campaign strategy. It was simply who he was.
His decision to run for Mayor in 2025 came as no surprise to anyone who followed his decades of public service. Under the banner of smart growth, fiscal responsibility, and transparent leadership, Tarzia positioned himself as a candidate who understood Stamford not from a distance but from the ground level.
He talked about cutting waste, empowering schools, and ending one-party control of city government. His slogan, “A Business Mind for a Stronger Stamford,” reflected a practical optimism that resonated with residents who were tired of politics as usual.
He was not a career politician. He was a teacher, a builder, a neighbor, and a father figure to many young people in Stamford who benefited from his mentorship and generosity over the years.
His campaign website described him as someone who had spent more than 25 years working across classrooms, construction sites, boardrooms, and board meetings, and that range of experience showed in the way he approached problems with both empathy and practicality.
Gregory Christofakis, who shared news of the passing online, wrote simply that Nic was a friend to so many and cared deeply for all the people of this great city.
That sentiment was echoed widely in the comments that followed, each one a small portrait of a life that touched Stamford in meaningful ways.
Nicola Tarzia leaves behind a legacy of service, generosity, and genuine love for his city.
He will be remembered not just as a candidate or a businessman but as a man who showed up, every single time, for the people around him. Stamford is lesser for his absence and greater for having known him. Rest in peace, Nic.
