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- Obituaries
Mark Stephen Zafuto 1953 - 2023
Mark Stephen Zafuto of Maumee OH, passed away peacefully May 2023 at the age of 69. He was the first-born child of Joyce Brown and Joseph Zafuto in Newfane, NY where he grew up on Lake Ontario and his love of the Great Lakes began. He attended the Newfane School system where he was an excellent student and participated in football and wrestling. He and his siblings Donna (Carl) Brinegar, David (Fran) Zafuto and Richard (Diana) Zafuto also spent part of their summer months at the family camp on Lake Muskoka, Ontario, Canada.
He attended Bowling Green State University where he met six people who became friends for the remainder of his life. Mark left college to join the U.S. Air Force, and while serving as a medic, he developed his interest in nursing. After his discharge, he met Susan Dandareau, who became his partner of 47 years, and they moved to Albuquerque, NM where he earned his BSN from the University of New Mexico. After graduation, his early career was spent first in pediatric intensive care and then at the VA Hospital.
His son Isaac was born in Albuquerque, NM and the family resided in a small A frame home on two acres in the Manzano Mountains. After eight years, they returned to Ohio where he continued his education, earning three graduate degrees, an advanced practice licensure and expanded his expertise into cardiac intensive care. In his later years he became a nursing instructor and published an article in the Journal of Nursing Education entitled Cooperative Learning: A Means to Promote Metacognitive and Collaborative Skills in Heterogeneous Nursing Students.
He enjoyed all things outdoors including camping, biking, golfing, sailing, wind surfing, rafting, swimming in the five Great Lakes, gardening, and music, attending over 50 Grateful Dead concerts. He was also active in the Maumee band parents' organization, co-chairing the Music in Motion competition for several years.
Over the course of 13 years, Mark, along with his family and friends, built an off-grid home on a rural wooded property on the upper peninsula of Michigan that was to become a full-time retirement home. He deeply enjoyed this period of his life and was grateful for the care and support of the people of Rudyard Michigan, who were instrumental to its success. His dream was cut short by cancer.
His greatest joy was the birth of his two granddaughters, Scarlet Francesca and Annabelle Grace, and watching Isaac and his wife Lydia create a home filled with love and joy, where the girls are thriving. His favorite weekly activity was visiting Scarlet and Annabelle with Susan and her brother, Conn Dandareau and his wife, Carol. The family will be having small private gatherings to celebrate his life.
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