Zachary Faruki

Zachary Prichard Faruki, son and brother and a charmer of everyone he met, including countless friends and beautiful women, died Oct. 26 in Washington D.C.The capital city became his home when he was stationed at the storied barracks overseen by the Marine Corps commandant. 

He served in ceremonies at the Pentagon and the White House, and once appeared in dress blues in a photo of Marines flanking Queen Elizabeth and President George W. Bush.His service proved a defining time of his short life, which ended after a fall led to a traumatic brain injury. He died a month short of his 41st birthday.Blessed with a sharp mind and a handsome 6-foot-3 frame, Zak was a talkative romantic who never met a stranger and turned many a head. He was a walking contradiction: He enjoyed grueling Marine training and firearms but also the movie “Little Women” (the Winona Rider version). He listened to techno music and relished the night life, but also cherished tender songs like Dolly Parton’s “Wild Flowers Don’t Care Where They Grow.”Zak was tough and macho, but loved nothing more than Christmas at Rockefeller Center. Kind and tolerant, he was quick to laugh at crude jokes, many of his own making. He dressed sharp in uniform and Hugo Boss suits, and cut a striking figure with the women he so admired in low-cut mini-dresses.Born to Kerry Prichard in Chicago on Nov. 26, 1984, he grew up in Merced, Calif.; Fort Smith, Ark.; and Montclair, N.J. He graduated Montclair High School, where he learned computer science and honed an keen skill for gaming, and became a lifelong fan of the New York Giants.One of his happiest moments came when his fellow Montclair Mountie, David Tyree, made his famous “helmet catch” to help the Giants beat the New England Patriots in a huge Super Bowl upset in 2008.The 9-11 terrorist attacks in 2001 transformed Zak’s life. He came home from high school in time to watch the towers fall, and later joined a gathering on Eagle Rock Mountain, which affords a majestic view of lower Manhattan, to grieve for those lost in the smoking ruins. He put his hands to his temples and said, “So much waste, so much waste.”That day set the stage for his volunteering for the Marine Corps, and he was overjoyed when his mom, dad and younger brother, Caleb, attended his boot camp graduation at Parris Island, S.C.He worked as a bouncer in his off hours as a D.C. Marine, and that lAaunched him into the restaurant and nightclub industry.Over the last decade, Zak tended bar and eventually ran several notable Washington bars and restaurants.Survivors are his parents, Kerry Prichard and Kyle Massey; siblings Kristian, Caleb and Zahra; and grandparents Raymond and Bennie Sue Massey. Zak’s maternal grandparents, Loyd and Katinka Prichard, predeceased him.

In lieu of flowers, the family recommends making donations in his memory to the Southern Poverty Law Center or the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C.The “Zak Man” will be forever missed and never forgotten.