JACK ZINN

JACK ZINN Einan's at Sunset The Tri-Cities lost a great man on January 22, 2017, just days after his 96th birthday, which he celebrated with family members. Jack Zinn was born on January 16, 1921 in Kansas City, Missouri, to Joe and Ruby Zinn. As a teen, he met a man at a baseball game that was so impressed with Jack's knowledge of the game, that he offered Jack a job going door-to-door. The job was taking free baby pictures, and then encouraging families to buy a package "Family Record Plan", which followed up with sales of new pictures yearly. He continued selling the "FRP" to his Richland customers. He joined the Navy in 1942 and became an aviator of the PBY plane, the "amphibious aircraft", which could land on land or water. At Navy flight training in Pasco, WA, he met his wife to be, Gloria. Their marriage would last 65 years strong. He loved to tell the story of how a tornado was approaching the Pacific island his squadron was stationed on, and EVERYONE else headed for safety in the hills. They left him, too sick to be moved, all alone in a medical tent. After the storm the men returned to find everything completely destroyed, except the tent Jack was in, still safe and sound! He studied accounting and chemical engineering via correspondence courses and obtained a job with DuPont at the Hanford Project in 1947. By 1951 he decided to become his own boss and started the first photography business in Richland, as well as, one of the first five privately owned businesses in Richland. This was quite an accomplishment given Richland was a town completely owned by the government. He was a self-made business man, devoting often 12-14 hours a day to make his business, Zinn Photography, a success. His son Bill started helping out, at a young age, and lessened his burden. Many parents will remember Jack's special trick for taking children's portraits. He wore a little kitty toy on his head to try to get children to smile. Zinn Photography photographed weddings, family portraits, sports teams, aerial construction progress (including WPPS), as well as, making copies and restorations of old photographs. Between the two of them, Jack and Bill, would usually shoot approximately around 100 weddings per year. At age 73, Jack retired after 56 years in the business. Jack was a long time member of the Richland Rotary Club, and named "Rotarion of the Year", which gave him great pride. After his retirement and the loss of his soul mate, Gloria, he dedicated a lot of his time to selling Rotary duck race tickets, and several times was the top seller of all the members. He was a long time member of Central United church, and enjoyed being a "greeter" there. He also attended their bible studies. He was a member of The Professional Photographers of America and Professional Photographers of Washington. In his later years, he dabbled in astronomy, the transfer of old music and movies to CD's, complete with labels, and gardening. Mostly his gardening consisted of purchasing the plants and watching others plant them, while he sipped on a beer, lamenting "what fun gardening was". He has joined his beloved wife of 65 years, Gloria, his parents, and his best friend and cousin, Joe, who was killed at the battle of Iwo Jima. He meant the moon and the stars to his children and grandchildren. He will be sorely missed by his daughter, Jacqueline (Jackie) and her daughter, Shelley; his son, Bill and his wife, Helen. Heartbroken are his grandchildren: Lt. Colonel Andrew (Drew) Zinn and his wife, Janel; and their sons, Jackson and Foster and his granddaughter Adriane (Adie) and her husband, Darrel, and their children, Cyndal and Nolan. There are few people who you can truly say we're "one of a kind", and Jack was one. A Celebration of Life Service with Military Honors will be held at Events at Sunset in Richland, on Saturday, January 28 at 12:00pm. A catered reception will follow the service. Express your thoughts and memories on our online Guestbook at www.einansatsunset.com.