Beloved preschool teacher and family matriarch - Kathleen Theresa (Merkel) Zakreski of Harrisburg was surrounded by her family when she passed peacefully from our world on Tuesday. She was a month shy of her 67th birthday.
She was born in Scranton, PA, and was a graduate of South Scranton Catholic High School, where she met and fell in love with her husband. She worked for 20 years as a teacher and administrator at Northwood Nursery School, where "Mrs. Z" inspired in many generations a sense of fun and a love of reading, crafts and teddy bears.
Her truest devotion was to be a constant presence in the lives of her extended family and she found her greatest fulfillment in her roles of "Honey", "Mom", "Grandma Kate" and "Aunt Kathy." She is survived by her devoted husband of 46 years, Ed (Curly) Zakreski and her two sons, Ed (& Judy) Zakreski of Fairfax, VA and Mike Zakreski (& Marci Haas) of Boulder, CO as well as her father, Frederick J. Merkel, of Scranton, PA, her sister Nancy (& Vince) Scacchitti of Granby, CT and her brother Frederick G. "Chip" (& Linda) Merkel of Harrisburg, PA. She is the adoring grandmother of Eddie, Anna, Sarah and Sadie, a proud godmother to many, and a loving aunt/great-aunt to two dozen nieces and nephews.
She is a member of St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church and, before that, of Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church.
Viewings will be on Thursday, June 4, 2015 from 3-5pm and 7-9pm at Jesse H. Geigle Funeral Home, Harrisburg, and from 10:30-11:30am on Friday, June 5, 2015 at St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, 2800 Paxton Church Road, Harrisburg, PA 17110, with a Mass of Christian Burial to be Celebrated at 11:30am. Burial will be at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks for contributions to the Kathy Zakreski Memorial Fund at Northwood Nursery School, 1801 Colonial Road, Harrisburg, PA 17112.
Denise Brocavitch ## (Lynott) (1964)
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She was born in Scranton, PA, and was a graduate of South Scranton Catholic High School, where she met and fell in love with her husband. She worked for 20 years as a teacher and administrator at Northwood Nursery School, where "Mrs. Z" inspired in many generations a sense of fun and a love of reading, crafts and teddy bears.
Her truest devotion was to be a constant presence in the lives of her extended family and she found her greatest fulfillment in her roles of "Honey", "Mom", "Grandma Kate" and "Aunt Kathy." She is survived by her devoted husband of 46 years, Ed (Curly) Zakreski and her two sons, Ed (& Judy) Zakreski of Fairfax, VA and Mike Zakreski (& Marci Haas) of Boulder, CO as well as her father, Frederick J. Merkel, of Scranton, PA, her sister Nancy (& Vince) Scacchitti of Granby, CT and her brother Frederick G. "Chip" (& Linda) Merkel of Harrisburg, PA. She is the adoring grandmother of Eddie, Anna, Sarah and Sadie, a proud godmother to many, and a loving aunt/great-aunt to two dozen nieces and nephews.
She is a member of St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church and, before that, of Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church.
Viewings will be on Thursday, June 4, 2015 from 3-5pm and 7-9pm at Jesse H. Geigle Funeral Home, Harrisburg, and from 10:30-11:30am on Friday, June 5, 2015 at St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, 2800 Paxton Church Road, Harrisburg, PA 17110, with a Mass of Christian Burial to be Celebrated at 11:30am. Burial will be at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks for contributions to the Kathy Zakreski Memorial Fund at Northwood Nursery School, 1801 Colonial Road, Harrisburg, PA 17112.