Professor John William "Jack" Zarker

October 25, 1928 - September 12, 2009
"Tomorrow doesn't matter for I have lived today". (Horace)

Chapel Hill
Professor John (Jack) Zarker, 80, died Saturday afternoon, September 12th at UNC Hospitals after suffering an acute stroke and multiple seizures as a result of a brain tumor. Jack Zarker is survived by his wife of 57 years, Katherine Lambeth Zarker of Chapel Hill, children, Leslie Zarker-Morgan (Richard) of Baltimore, MD, Jean Frisbie (Russell) of Newport, RI, W. Jefferson Lambeth Zarker (Cynthia) of Medfield, MA, Carol Zarker of Durham, NC, and Sarah Hand (Michael) of Maumee, OH, and seven grandchildren. Jack Zarker was born in Lancaster, PA to parents Alvin Benjamin and Barbara Elizabeth Zarker. After graduating from Manheim Township High School, he attended Franklin & Marshall College, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He received a scholarship to attend UNC Chapel Hill where he received his MA and, also as he liked to say, his “Mrs” (Katherine Lambeth). There was an interval of three years when he served as a Naval Intelligence officer during the Korean Conflict. In Fall 1955, the young Zarker family moved to Princeton, NJ, where Jack continued his studies, receiving his PhD in June 1958. Thus began his rewarding teaching career during which he became a beloved professor who influenced many students. After receiving the prestigious Prix de Rome award, he taught for one year at UT Austin before spending a year at the American Academy in Rome. He returned to the USA in 1960 to teach at Dartmouth. The Zarkers moved to Nashville, TN in 1966, where Jack taught at Vanderbilt. Next move was back to the Northeast in 1971 when he accepted chairmanship of the Classics Department at Tufts University. In 1989, Jack became Professor Emeritus at Tufts and came to Duke where he has been Senior Lecturer in Classical Studies and student advisor. While he received many teaching and research awards at the university level, he was particularly interested in summer workshops for high school Latin teachers to encourage new and interesting ways to teach Latin to younger students. One of Jack’s and Kathy’s greatest life experiences has been sharing a second career in which they jointly prepared and taught Classical History and Archaeology classes for more than a decade to seniors and then took participants on a tour of the area studied in the class. As they approached their octogenarian decades, their children began to ask them how many more Roman/Greek ruins really needed to be explored. Other joys in his life included family, table tennis, doing crossword puzzles (in ink), playing bridge, classical music, singing, laughter, traveling, reading, and working in the yard. He is greatly missed. A Celebration of Life is scheduled for Jack’s 81st birthday on Oct. 25, 2009, at 2:00 pm at the Unitarian Church (ERUUF), Garrett Road, Durham, NC. Family and friends are invited to attend. In memory of Jack, donations may be made to the Trustees of Tufts College for the Zarker Classical Award: Attn: Karen D’Antuono, Gift Planning, Tufts Univ., 80 George St., Medford, MA 02155. The Zarker family wishes to thank the doctors, nurses, and staff in the Neurology and Palliative Care Departments at UNC Hospitals for their professional and compassionate care.