John Zandovskis

As many of you know, John was born in Latvia in 1943. What you may not know, is that John was born into a wealthy family. When John was about six months old, his family received word that Russia was invading Latvia and they had only hours to escape with little but the clothes on their backs. The family went to Germany into a relocation/refugee camp and lived there for a number of years. A Lutheran church in America sponsored John and his family to come to America. They sailed across the ocean on a Liberty ship. The family eventually relocated in Texas where, as a young boy, John's chores included slopping hogs and picking cotton. His father received notice that there was an opening on a dairy in Petaluma. A lot of John's love for the outdoors grew in Petaluma. He talked often of playing up on the windy hills above the dairy. He and his best buddy and "soul mate", Don Reeves, met in school and discovered a mutual love for all things outdoors. John's first encounter with rockets (as a rocket scientist) came in high school when John, Don, and two others formed the ZAHARE rocket club. Yes, they actually built and launched rockets! John moved to southern California to attend college to become an Industrial Engineer. His first job was at North American Rockwell. He then went on to Solar Turbines. While in southern California, John married and had three sons. He was also taught to ride motorcycles by his good buddy, Sper, from Solar. Needless to say, John took to motorcycle riding like a duck takes to water! Eventually, John relocated to Sacramento and went to work for Aerojet in Rancho Cordova. After a few years of living in the Sacramento area, John relocated to the foothills of Placerville. He purchased 6 acres and called it the Lazy Z Ranch. John continued to enjoy his many, many outdoor activities. He joined El Dorado County Search and Rescue and after training, enjoyed participating in many searches. Some of his training accomplishments included, CPR, repelling, First Responder, and all manner of "foot search" team training. When he wasn't motorcycling, looking for Bigfoot or looking for aliens in area 51 with another good buddy A. Leon, he was seen hiking to the Pitt mine, "fishing" with a good friend, jeeping, canoeing or just plain camping. Other than that, you could frequently find John riding his beloved tractor, Henry. John spent 22 years developing and building the Lazy Z. He loved being out in just about any kind of weather - wind, rain and snow being his favorites. And, of course, he was known for his love and great talent in photography. One thing you can say about John is - HE LIVED LIFE TO THE MAX!! I'll miss you sweetheart, Your Daina