Edward Frank Zontek Obituary (2024)

Edward [Ed] Frank Zontek was born in Middletown, Connecticut on August 3, 1932 into a Polish immigrant family. Both his parents, Aniela [Adamczyk] Zontek and Szymon [Simon/Zim] Zontek. hailed from southern Poland where Szymon returned late in life. Ed grew up in a Depression-era household that infused him with thrift and a "waste not, want not" philosophy that he imparted into his own family as an adult. His older sister and only sibling, Helen, stated of Ed's youth that he was quite happy playing outside in nature or ball with his buddies. Ed's family lived alternately in Rhode Island and Massachusetts during Ed's youth. He graduated from Uxbridge (Massachusetts) High School in 1949 but not before he once made a salad as a prep cook at the Uxbridge Inn for John F. Kennedy [JFK]. Ed joined the Naval Reserve out of high school but was assigned into active duty while completing his initial training. He was a Korean War era veteran though his single tour of duty concentrated in the Caribbean including ports of call in Cuba with occasional trans-Atlantic voyages with a port of call in France on at least one occasion where he visited the Sanctuary of our Lady of Lourdes. Upon completion of his enlistment Ed took advantage of the GI Bill and enrolled at Penn State University, Mont Alto campus to major in forestry. During one of his lower-level undergraduate summers Ed pursued a seasonal Forest Service [USFS] position in the Umpqua National Forest outside of Roseburg, Oregon. Ed took a shine to the Oregon forests subsequently transferring to Oregon State University thereby becoming a lifelong Beaver Believer. During his seasonal forestry work he also met a fire lookout, Colleen Tissino, who he courted and later married. A noteworthy anecdote from his early Forest Service work occurred when he stored some Polska kielbasa sent by his mother in a cold water storage pit in a dry backcountry camp when one night a black bear got into the sausage stash upon which Ed heard the bear and gave chase out of his sleeping bag in his birthday suit only to have one of his work buddies remark: "Gheezh, Ed, in all that commotion I couldn't tell which was the bear and which was you since you're so dog gone hairy." Upon graduation Ed began a career as a federal employee first serving as a forester in the Umpqua National Forest in which he participated in some of the early surveys and timber sales that eventually made Roseburg a "timber capital." His first child, Ed, Jr., was born there in 1961 coincidentally on the same day as the inauguration of JFK. Ed then transferred a couple times as a federal forester that next took him to Crested Butte and Gunnison, Colorado where his daughter, Shawn, and youngest son, Ken, were born. The family then moved to Custer, South Dakota where Ed worked in his last USFS job as a forester and then to Eatonville, Washington where Ed worked for the Washington Department of Natural Resources while Colleen completed her nursing degree in nearby Tacoma. The family finished the 1960s back in Roseburg, Oregon this time with Ed working as a forester for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM]. Ed moved into management in the BLM which resulted in a promotion to Reno, Nevada where the family remained for two years before relocating to Elko, Nevada where Ed became the Chief Fire Control Officer, often referred to endearingly as "Big Daddy" by his seasonal crew members. Beginning in 1977 Ed successfully navigated single parenting until1980 when he married Sandra (Sandy) Jensen, which also gave him a step-son, Cris Jensen. Ed and Sandy were married until 2023 when she preceded him in death. 1983 marked a big year for Ed and family as he was in early federal retirement and began a second occupational life with a series of odd jobs ranging from pizza delivery to prep chef to security guard and finally, favorably back to forestry as a contract forester with jobs in Utah, California, Washington, and culmination mostly back in Roseburg, Oregon in his beloved Umpqua National Forest. At the same time, Sandy enrolled at Southern Utah State College in Cedar City, Utah where she graduated and progressed to Emporia State University in Kansas to complete her master's degree. Ed continued in his odd jobs with the pair eventually sojourning where Ed, Jr. resided in Wenatchee, Washington in the mid 1980s before moving to Roseburg, Oregon where Sandy settled into her career as a school psychologist in a nearby community. Ed was proud to continue his contract forestry work in stocking surveys of forest regeneration where he initially had worked as a forester. His measuring stick recorded approximately 30,000 plots as Ed traversed the hillsides well into his 60s partly as a product of his consistent exercise started in his 40s with running in which he competed recreationally often with podium finishes in higher age group brackets, i.e., winning his category in Elko's Man-Mule race in 1982 and frequently in Roseburg's May 5k into the early 2000s. Not long after Sandy retired, Ed and Sandy moved to Kalispell, Montana in 2008 where daughter Shawn resided. The couple lived there until 2022 when they relocated for the last time to Yakima, Washington where son Ken resided to spend the twilight of their lives. Sandy passed away in November 2023 just short of her 83rd birthday while Ed passed away the day after Christmas in 2024 having become a nonagenarian of 92 years old earlier in August. They each requested private services with later combination and spreading of their ashes. Ed was preceded in death by his sister Helen, grandson Joshua (Shawn's oldest son), and Sandy. Ed is survived by son Ed, Jr. and his children Andi, Sami, and Kurt; daughter Shawn and her son Jason along with his daughter Cheyenne; son Ken and his son Zach; and step-son Cris along with his children Nick, Jake, and Amaya. Rest in peace, our beloved Woodsman. Brookside Funeral Home is caring for the family. Memories and condolences may be shared at: www.brooksidefuneral.com