Obituary: Deanna Zaniker

While teaching her first class, she met and married Frank Zaniker in December 1963. They enjoyed a beautiful and loving marriage for 49 years until Frank’s passing in April 2012. She taught and substituted in all schools in Sherman County from 1963-1989. In 1989, she took a job in Goldendale, Wash., at Goldendale Primary. She taught there until she retired in 2002. After that, she spent two years subbing and one long-term teaching job at Chenowith Elementary in The Dalles.

Deanna was an educator of teachers in the Eastern Oregon School Districts for the first state-mandated benchmarks. She trained teachers aids for Oregon’s tri-county area and was a presenter at the Washington State Teachers Association Conventions in 1991 and 1996. She created a kindergarten curriculum for the Sherman County Schools which was adopted as the state-recommended curriculum. Throughout her distinguished career, Deanna has been a member of the AAUW in Goldendale (American Association of University Women), a master teacher with many associated student teachers, a grant writer for educational programming, a teacher/principal, and a volunteer teacher for terminally ill children in the Los Angeles area.

Along with her fierce devotion as an educator, Deanna was deeply active with the youth of each community she lived in. She was a den mother of Cub Scouts, a 4-H Leader, chairman of the Sherman County Fair Pavilion, a PTA officer (holding every office as well as president for two terms), a Sunday School teacher, a Daily Vacation Bible School teacher, a recipient of the Outstanding Young Woman of America Award, a March of Dimes volunteer, a child advocate for Sherman County Courts, a co-chair of the Oregon Trail’s Centennial Celebration, an educational consultant for the Sherman County Museum, a coordinator for the Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) program, a Books-for-Kids coordinator, a Red Cross trainer for those seeking certification, a Red Cross Swim Life Saving trainer, and a volunteer art teacher for Wasco Grade School.

Deanna was a wife, a mother, a grandmother, and “Grandma” to years of students at Chenowith Elementary School, where she assisted her daughter, Kirky, in many class jobs and projects. She was an avid reader, a theater-lover, a fan of a good Reisling, a fierce cribbage competitor, a strong shoulder when you needed one, and a loyal friend always. She enjoyed seeing the world and she enjoyed seeing the spark in a young person’s eye.

Deanna is survived by her brother Kenneth Bekkedahl; daughter Kirky Stutzman; son Joe Zaniker; sons-in-law Jesse Stutzman and Gregg Coffin; and grandchildren Wyatt and Emma Stutzman. Deanna is preceded in death by her parents, her sister Barbara, her nephew Ron Richwine, and her husband, Frank Zaniker.

Her family would like to thank the entire staff of OHSU’s Knight Cancer Institute in Gresham, Ore., the doctors and nurses at Mid-Columbia Medical Center in The Dalles, the angels at Bristol Hospice (formerly Heart of Hospice) in Hood River, and the compassionate care community at Peaceful Presence.

Deanna’s mission statement in life was to love, live, be kind, accept, and keep joy present in your life.