LEE ZACHEK

Lee Gordon Zachek, 82, of Neenah, Wisconsin, passed peacefully into eternal life on August 3rd, 2020. He was born on June 18, 1938 in Milwaukee Wisconsin. He was well loved for his artistry, sense of humor and compassion. He was preceded  in death by his wife, Karen Zachek, Parents Norman and Fern Zachek and brothers Alan and Gene Zachek. He is survived by his sons Brian and Matthew Zachek and granddaughter Zoey Zachek.

"I'm not exactly sure how I can describe my Father. I have no idea why, but the word “magical” comes to mind. “Magical” not how most people would use the word, but but “magical” in the sense that he created a wonderful, fascinating, interesting, alternate world of his own.

He was a creator, preserver of things, an artist, a comedian, a fix-it man, a builder, a problem solver, a man of many, many diverse interests. He loved music and movies from the 1930's and 1940's. He loved comedy and he loved to laugh and to make other people laugh. 

He loved steam engines and even owned and operated a small steam engine. He was an amateur astronomer and photographer.

He was a very talented and special painter using both oils and acrylics. Often, he painted beautiful lake and ocean scenes, WWII airplanes and extremely moving likenesses of Jesus Christ. He did amazing charcoal drawings of his favorite musicians such as the Jazz Clarinetist Benny Goodman and the Classical Guitarist Andre Segovia. These hang in the music room of my house today. He also did beautiful work with pencils, pastels and inks and even markers.

Really, his entire life was a creative endeavor. In the family home he frequently built things entirely from scratch like beautiful shelving units, beds and counters. And he personalized everything he built. When my brother was very young, our Father built for him a storage unit and a bed on which he painted in great detail all of the famous “Peanuts” cartoon characters like Charlie Brown and Snoopy.

I remember one day when we were kids, our Pop brought home some specially made boxes that looked like authentic Treasure Chests that pirates might use. Before giving them to us, Pop had secretly taken several hands full of good sized clean gravel and painted the gravel with gold paint to make it look exactly like gold nuggets. When my brother and I opened up the “Treasure Chests” we saw that they were filled with “gold nuggets!”

My Pop was a lovely guy. He cared very deeply, but did not always express this directly outside of his creative projects and his enjoyment of his many interests.

Dad was a great believer in honoring regular people, who struggled , people who did their best to to be honest and authentic and respect each other. A very important aspect of his Christian faith was that, ultimately God has promised that he would provide perfect heavenly justice to all people. Such a contrast to the frequent sorrow and injustices of this world!

My Father supported the family in many ways. He supported us in everything we did and never let us down in normal times or in times of crisis.

I miss my Pop, his love, his care, his hilarious sense of humor, his music, his art, his spirit, the sounds of him working in his workshop downstairs. But we will be together again in the beautiful and direct presence of the Lord".

-Brian Zachek