Edward Zamarripa Obituary

Edward J. Zamarripa, 75, passed away after a valiant battle against a sudden illness that ravaged his body, on July 3, 2017 in Lakewood, Colorado, Ed answered the Lord's summons and surrendered his soul to him. He was surrounded by family that assisted him in that passage. Ed was born in Colorado on September 19, 1941 to Leo and Helen Zamarripa. He graduated from Florence High School in 1959. He went on to higher education at the University of Southern Colorado receiving his BA in History and Geography in 1966, his MS in Management from Florida State University in 1969 and finally his doctorate in Special Education, Law and Policy from the University of Kansas in 1991. Ed spent 30 years of his career as the Director of Finance and Administration at the Life Span Institute, Bureau of Child Research and Kansas Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Center, and retired from the BCR LSI department at the University of Kansas as the Associate Director Emeritus, Bureau of Child Research in 2010. In total he spent 41 years with LSI. He also chaired the National Research Center Administrators Group for 25 years, among participation in many other national committees and groups. While being so involved with national organizations and his career, Ed thought about his community too. He was a cub scout leader, coached little league football and served as the treasurer for the Lawrence Track Club, and President of the Lawrence Wrestling Club. He is survived by his wife, Mary Ann (nee Moguez) Zamarripa of Lawrence, KS; sons, Greg of Oklahoma City, OK, and Kevin of Henderson, NV; grandsons, Keegan and Kaden. He is also survived by family members, Adolph, John, Ben, Tom, Bob and their spouses, Marjorie Herrera, Helen Vigil and spouse, and many nieces and nephews. Ed is preceded in death by his parents, Leo and Helen; brothers, Ernie, Alfred, Leo and Arthur. A Recitation of the Holy Rosary will be held on Tuesday, July 11, 2017 at 9:30am, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 10am, both at Our Lady of the Meadows Catholic Church in Pueblo. Inurnment will follow later at Imperial Gardens Cemetery, also in Pueblo. A memorial service will be held in Lawrence, Kansas at a later date. On line condolences can be offered at www.imperialfunerals.com.

Published by Lawrence Journal-World on Jul. 9, 2017.
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I was so sad to learn of Ed's passing. I first knew Ed as a doc student. Dick sent me to Ed who graciously arranged for me to use a bureau car to collect my dissertation data all over KS! Ed was always helpful and he always remembered me when I returned to KU to visit. Ed was a special person who made the BCR and then the LSI the special place it is. My sincere condolences to Ed's family.

MaryAnn Romski

August 14, 2017

Ed was my neighbor and friend for 23 years. He demonstrated that humility and intelligence are not mutually exclusive. I am privileged to have known him and will miss him forever. - Joel Hood

Joel Hood

July 20, 2017

Mary Ann so sorry to hear of Ed passing away! Thoughts and prayers for you, Greg, Kevin and family! He was a good man and will be missed!
Mary Lou and Ed Almanza (Lawrence, KS.)

July 20, 2017

Mary, Kevin, and Greg,
Ed was such a caring person, impacting the lives of so many in such a positive way. I'll always be grateful for his patience, teaching, and caring while coaching little league football. I'm with you in spirit as you celebrate his life and look back with fond memories.
--Jason Karlin

July 19, 2017

Dear Mary Ann, Greg and Kevin. I am so sorry to hear of sudden death of Ed! I remember the good times at work interacting with him and many, many times watching KU games at your house with many friends and neighbors yelling at the TV! And sipping on a Dos Equis XX !! Not to mention abundant numbers of Chilli Dogs! You are in my thoughts and my prayers! May Ed rest in peace!!

David J. Lutz

July 17, 2017

Sympathy to the family.. we will be keeping you in our thoughts and prayers.
Steve & Glenda Shannon

Steve & Glenda Shannon

Friend

July 15, 2017

Oh, how awful. Unbelievable. Ed is no longer with us.

Ed was a great friend, a darn good student in our doctoral program (we were his advisors), an indispensable staffer at LSI, and Jay's most reliable buddy.

Ed always listened to my special pleading and never said no he just wanted the justification for digging into his hidden treasures.

He kept the HR and Budget folks at KU away from Jay's line' and salary; he was always delighted to see Jay (who interrupted him every day at LSI, when getting the mail). When we gave him the Jay Turnbull Award he was the first recipient he made a statement that has never left my memory: Jay Turnbull taught me how to be a friend.

Well, Ed taught us all how to be friends with each other. He rarely was flustered (OK, the lawsuit occasioned by Martin Gerry's work in San Antonio was a constant thorn under his butt). He was so absolutely loyal to the mission of the LSI; he loved being able to advance it, although he also said no from time to time to requests that he thought were out of bounds; he kept confidences; he played no favorites (to my knowledge he simply required people to justify what they wanted to do, and to justify it in terms of LSI's mission).

He was so proud of his children and grandchildren, and genuinely enjoyed being with them.

He was a rock a large, steady, immovable and principle-and-value driven person.

I will miss him; our lunches together, with Paul and Dick, were highlights of my returns to KU/LSI/Beach.

If he is not in God's Kingdom, then God help the rest of us.

I know that after God the first person to welcome Ed was Jay Turnbull. Their energies, their spirits, now intermingle, now re-establish a dear friendship.

What special friendship they had with each other: each delighting in the constant presence of each other.

If Jay taught Ed how to be a friend, it is certain that Ed had a friend in Jay.indeed, in all of us.

Rest well, good and faithful servant of the cause

Rud

Rud Turnbull

July 13, 2017

Incredibly sad day when we heard that Ed had passed. An immediate swelling up of great memories of our families together.......football games, road trips, family events......and many more. Ed has been a great friend for many, many years and will be dearly missed....one of a kind.

Love to Mary Ann and the rest of the family at this time.

July 13, 2017

Remembering Eddie when he was a teenager in Florence. May he rest in peace.

Louis Archuletta

July 12, 2017

He will be missed for sure by those of us Juniper Gardens Children's Project. On first meeting Ed, I was happy to know we were western-states guys, he from Colorado, me from Utah and Joe Delquadri from Idaho at Juniper Gardens (the 3 Amigos). It was a plus because we both had grown up fly fishing, and exchanged emails each summer about what water we had fished and what we caught and on what trout fly.

He was always a fan and a supporter of Juniper. He attended just about all our functions and events - he enjoyed our frequent potluck lunches in particular.

As Rud said, he was a brick and a supporter through administration. Hi might say no, but then had a salutation. He was committed to supporting our mission - no matter how much and for what good reason.

When Betty Smith, our original administrator passed, Ed and LSI team was over to Kansas City regularly to help us carry on business without Betty. She was the only one that knew our books and Ed and crew went through everything in her office to dig out information needed. It was about a year until we found a replacement. In the meantime our operation continued uninterrupted thanks to Ed and Paul's leadership through this time.

Talk about a challenge - there was a time when we had an opportunity to buy the building we were renting in Kansas City, KS at 7th and Minnesota. He helped me draft a proposal to the City and the University to buy the building after came into the ownership of the City, and they were entertaining proposals to purchase it for a bargain. Turned out the University was not interested in owning property in KCKS, and the effort stopped. But it was a great idea - we could have easily paid off and owned the building had this gone through in the intervening years

Ed worked through the multitude of details of our move to the Children's Campus, including the terms of our leasing the 3rd Floor, and also outfitting the new space with furniture, networking, computers, phone system, etc. So many details to the success of our organization in locating to the Campus and fulfilling a 10 year-long effort with our partner organizations there to fund and build the building through a private-public partnership. Ed make this possible -- working with the University administration to establish this entirely new concept off-campus!

As before, our operation continued and we received some of our largest grants during this period.

Even after retirement, Ed was invited and attended our many functions, events, retirements, and celebrations.

Thank you Ed, you made a world of difference, helping Kansas dreamers succeed, and the world is better for it. We won't forget!

Charlie Greenwood!

July 10, 2017

Mary Ann, Kevin and Greg, so very sorry to learn of Ed's passing. He was such a kind, gentle, wonderful person, treasure the memories.

Ed & Carolyn Van Petten

July 10, 2017

Ed was one of the nicest people I have ever met. I handled his insurance for a few years before I got sick. My wish would be to be as nice and caring as he was. My condolences to Mary Ann and the family.

Fredrick Stebbins

July 10, 2017

We enjoyed getting to know Ed through the Lawrence Track Club. We are sorry to hear he was ill at the end, but glad family was able to be with him at that difficult time. Please accept our condolences. We join our prayers to yours for his eternal life with the Lord.

Tammy and Don Steeples

July 10, 2017

There will always be a special place in our hearts for a remarkable and valued friend of 46 years.

Ed Zamarripa was an honorable man with high ethics and unlimited willingness to solve problems and help others. That included major accomplishments involving grants and research centers. He was valued by his colleagues for his honesty, directness, and tenacity.

I had the honor of serving with Ed as a colleague for 39 years. He was a wizard when it came to innovative interventions to save money, purchase needed equipment, present research or protect staff.

A trip to his office usually involved a discussion of the latest sports developments at KU. Then we'd get down to business and define and implement interventions. In the end, we'd get back to the important business of KU sports. Each visit would end with slaps on backs and hand shakes.

Ed was also active in other ventures--including coaching little league football. The kids loved him as he respected them. He had infinite patients helping them to become better players and better beings. It was not uncommon to hear players (now a men) yell "Hi Coach Zamarripa." He'd wave back with a big smile.

Ed loved chocolate cookies. When Jane baked a batch, she'd take some over to Ed. I was a bit jealous as there weren't always any left for me.

Ed was fiercely loyal to his family. Greg and Kevin, he was extremely proud of you. And Mary Ann we could always feel the respect and love that he had for you. This loyalty also extended to Florence and Colorado. It is so appropriate that Ed has returned to his roots. And we must recognize the rich culture of Florence and the Zamarripa family that molded and shaped a wonderful brother, friend, father and husband.

Jim and Jane Budde

Jim and Jane Budde

July 9, 2017

Mary Ann, Greg, Kevin and all who loved Ed; thank you for sharing Ed with all of us. He is a great person with so many accomplishments and service to the world. We are blessed to know him. You can rest in the joy of knowing he and God will enjoy their time together.

Drenda Tigner

July 9, 2017

Mary Ann, I was heartsick to hear about Ed's death. I know how devoted he was to you, Greg, and Kevin and his beloved grandsons. I will forever miss his friendship. He was one of the good ones.

Patsy Woods

July 9, 2017

Such sad news to hear about Ed. He was always so proud to talk about his sons and grandchildren, and such a friendly neighbor. Hannah and Becca remember how he used to bring back souvenirs for them from his trips and take the time to talk with them. Mary Ann, we are sorry for your loss. We are right next door, so please let us know if we can do anything for you--a meal, shopping, cleaning, or whatever.
Sincerely,
Jeff Moran and Susan Kang

July 9, 2017

Mary Ann, I am so sorry for your loss. My prayers are with you and your family. Take Care

Mary Davidson

July 9, 2017

Mary Ann, Greg and Kevin,
We were so sorry to hear about the passing of Ed. He was a wonderful mentor for me and great friend to both Marilyn and I for many years. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and yours.

Paul and Marilyn

July 9, 2017

So shocked - so sad. Out thoughts and prayers are with you.
Don and Darlene Cole
Lawrence, KS

July 9, 2017

Ed brought so many happy moments in our life at work and left us with a treasure trove of memories. We will never be able to forget him. We are praying for you in this difficult time. May his soul rest in peace.

Jan & Mike Grady

July 8, 2017

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