Donald John Ziriax

Donald John Ziriax

Donald John Ziriax passed on March 18, 2018 at the age of 95. A retired school teacher, his commitment to education and compassion for people will continue to affect those who knew him or were his students. Born in Delmar, New York, his family moved to Williams Arizona, where Don celebrated his young life with friends, working part-time jobs, and driving a Ford Model T called "Miss Fortune". During World War II, he served in the Pacific with the Navy as a motor mate (SP) aboard the USS Kawalein (CVE-98). After the war he earned his teaching degree on the GI Bill. Teaching was his his true calling. While a teacher in Ash Fork, AZ, he also ran a refrigeration service, and added TV repair and antenna installation when he helped bring television to the Ash Fork area. Long after he retired, he was still in contact with some of his students and still loved to share stories about teaching. Though his first wife, Mary Ruth Ziriax passed in 1989, he is survived by his second wife Ruth Eleanor Ziriax, and his two sons, John Miles Ziriax and Richard Donald Ziriax, and two grandchildren, Margaret Ruth Ziriax and John Gilbert Ziriax (who is just starting his own teaching career). In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in his name to your local PTA and support increased funding for public schools.