1
tree
planted in memory of Josiah A. (Joe) Zoller
Obituary for Josiah A. (Joe) Zoller
Josiah A. (Joe) Zoller went to his eternal home in Heaven on Friday, May 5, 2023, at the age of 94. Joe was born in White Plains, NY on January 11, 1929, as the last child in the family with his two older sisters. His father died just two years later, and his mom packed up the three kids and moved across the country to Hermosa Beach, CA. He spent the next 91 years living in various cities in Southern Cal, until spending his last year in Lenexa, KS. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in September of 1946 at the age of 17 and served at the end of WWII in Japan for over a year. After he was discharged, he started college at USC, but graduated from Santa Barbara College (now UC Santa Barbara) and also went to Stanford graduate school for a time. He worked in the oil industry for many years as an accountant among other capacities, then finished his career as a CFO of an expanded metal manufacturing company.
He married Josephine (Jody) Daloise in 1959 and they were married for 35 years until Jody’s passing in 1994. They had two children and Joe was a loving father to Kim Chapman and Bob (Stacy) Zoller. He has six grandchildren – Matt (Bujana), Jon (Ashley), Cassie, Ben, Alex and Luke. Jody had Rheumatoid Arthritis for 26 years and the last 17 were especially hard as it was a crippling disease of her hands and feet and she was limited in what she could do. Joe took care of her faithfully to the very end. Through this health struggle, Jody was searching for spiritual answers and found the Truth in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Through this Joe also believed and his children. The struggle brought out a great blessing to the family.
Joe was involved in many community and church activities all throughout his life. He was involved with CBMC and went to a Promise Keepers Event in Kansas City in 1996. He was involved with his SAE fraternity brothers his whole life right to the end.
He was an avid tennis player for most of his life, playing in college and very accomplished, and was still playing twice a week right up to the age of 91! He will miss his many friends at the Dana Hills, CA tennis club where he played. He also planted and grew rose gardens wherever he lived. They were always very prosperous and colorful. He loved animals and during the kids growing up years they had many, including dogs, cats, ducks, rabbits, a parakeet, and a turtle.
He was a social person and people loved Joe! He was great at organizing events and making sure everyone had a good time. He also just seemed to make things happen. When he was 20, he marched into the Grand Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite Valley and told them they needed a tennis teaching pro for their tennis court. They agreed and he spent the next 5 summers in Yosemite Valley getting paid to play tennis – not a bad gig! One of those summers, he found and rescued a young lady that was lost in the harsh Yosemite wilderness for 4 days near death – was headline news across America at the time. Anyone who knew him – knew about his handshake. He would grip your hand firmly and pull you towards him, causing a good laugh from the off-balanced, startled party.
He married again in 1995 to Louise (Lou) Gurich who passed away in 2010.
Before moving to Kansas, he spent 12 years together with Judy Kline-Truhill.
He will be missed by many!
Through Cedar Crest Memorial we will conduct Graveside Funeral Services on Tuesday, May 9, 2023, at 10:00 am at De Soto Cemetery (KS). In lieu of flowers, Memorial Contributions can be made to ThunderZoll, Inc. as Joe was very supportive of the India missions work being done. (www.ThunderZoll.org)
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Previous Events
Graveside
Tuesday
9
May
10:00 AM
De Soto Cemetery
34500 W 87th Street
De Soto, KS 66018
Cemetery Details
Location
De Soto Cemetery
34500 W 87th Street
De Soto, KS 66018
Memorial Contribution
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