Pertef Bylykbashi was born July 1, 1938, in the village of
Pilur in southern Albania. He was the fifth of seven children
born to Zenel and Resmije Bylykbashi. As a very young
child, Pertef dreamed of someday going to America. Through his
dreams and imagination, he grew to love a country that as a child only existed in his imagination.   Pertef ’s life would take many turns, and it would be many years before he would be able to realize his dreams.  

Pertef escaped Albania that was under communist rule and made his way to Greece in 1957.  There he was recruited into the US Army under the Lodge Act and served five years at Fort Jackson, SC .  On April 5, 1963, he received an honorable discharge from the Army and moved to Brooklyn, New York, where he lived a short while before relocating to Waterbury, Connecticut. It was there that he met and married his wife Nancy. In their forty-year marriage, they had three children and nine grandchildren.
Mr. Bylykbashi is a very successful businessman and entrepreneur.
He currently resides in Farmington, Connecticut, where he
enjoys spending time with his children and grandchildren, and Bonita Springs, Florida, where he spends half the year.   He is very proud of the fact that although he was denied an education beyond the fourth grade in Albania, he was able to earn a high school diploma and go on to earn a college degree in specialized business after he became an American citizen.

His greatest pride, however, lies in the fact that he was allowed to serve five years in the United States Army.

“I will never be able to repay the debt I owe to this great country,
but maybe in some small way my service in the military made a
difference.”