George Zytaruk was the first president of Nipissing College, a professor of English literature, and a renowned D. H. Lawrence scholar. He was born on May 6, 1927 in rural Alberta. He attended the University of Alberta, receiving a Bachelor of Education degree in 1949, followed by Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and Master of Arts degrees in English. He worked as a teacher and principal in Edmonton and other Alberta communities until 1962, when he commenced his doctorate at the University of Washington in Seattle. After graduating in 1965, Zytaruk returned to the University of Alberta and taught in the English department. In 1967, he relocated with his family to North Bay, Ontario after being appointed Principal (later renamed President) of the newly-established Nipissing College. As President of Nipissing College from 1967 to 1983, he was instrumental in the college's early development and played a central role in key events including the college's affiliation agreement with Laurentian University (1967), the construction of the College Education Centre (opened 1973), and the establishment of a Faculty of Education following the merger of North Bay Teachers’ College with Nipissing College (1973).Zytaruk continued researching, writing, and teaching as a professor of English language and literature at Nipissing College both during and after his presidential term. His primary academic interest was the English writer D. H. Lawrence, while other interests included Shakespeare and Renaissance literature. Zytaruk retired in 1992, but remained active in the affairs of Nipissing University, which recognized his contributions by awarding him an Honourary Doctorate of Letters (1992), and naming him its first Professor Emeritus (1997) and President Emeritus (2011). George Zytaruk died in North Bay on April 12, 2013.
G.A. Zypchen (1939- ) was the Director of Military Occupational Structures and of the Directorate of Structure and Activity Control during 1982-1996. Born in Hafford, Saskatchewan, he enrolled in the Canadian Army with the Royal Canadian Engineers in 1957. He was under the Regular Officer Training Plan and graduated from the University of Saskatchewan, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering. Promoted to lieutenant in 1961 and to captain in 1964, he was appointed Second-in-Command of 1 Works Company, Royal Canadian Engineers. He was promoted major in 1968 and was appointed Staff Officer Equipment engineering at Force Mobile Command Headquarters. In 1970, he was appointed Officer Commanding Tactics Platoon at the Canadian Forces School of Military Engineering in Chilliwack, B.C. In 1972 he became Commanding Officer of the 4th Field Squadron, Lahr, Germany, and in 1974 he became Section Head of the Training Section of the Directorate of Military Engineering Operations. Promoted to lieutenant-colonel in 1975, he became a Member of the Directing Staff of the Canadian Land Forces Command and Staff College. In 1978 he was appointed Senior Staff Officer of the Administrative Branch of the 1 Canadian Brigade Group and Signal Squadron Headquarters. In 1981 he was appointed as a supernumery officer to the Personnel Manning Policy Group, and was promoted colonel the next year. He became Director of Military Occupational Structures in 1983 and Director of Infrastructure Planning Coordination (DIPC) in 1987. In 1992, when DIPC was converted into the Directorate of Structure and Activity Control, he maintained the position of Director. Zypchen retired from the Canadian Armed Forces in 1996.
Carl Wesley Zurbrigg (1919-2002) was a minister with the United Church of Canada for 56 years. He was born in Listowel, Ontario. From 1937-1940 he worked at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in Listowel and Auburn-Dungannon. He received a B.A. from Victoria College at the University of Toronto in 1943, and a B.D. from Emmanuel College in 1946. He was ordained by London Conference on May 28, 1946. He was a summer Student in Tribune, Saskatchewan (1941-1942), Madawaska (1943), Ker (1943-1946). He worked as an ordained minister at Jarvie, Alberta (1946-1949), Peace River (1949-1952), Drumheller (1952-1956), Olivet United Church in Hamilton (1956-1968), Dominion-Chalmers, Ottawa (1968-1975), St. James-Simcoe in Erie Presbytery (1975-1984). In administrative capacities, he was Presbytery Chair of Peace River in 1951, Hamilton in 1960 and Erie in 1980. He was the Hamilton Conference Pension Convenor from 1984-1988. He was on the Executive of the Board of World Mission/Division of World Outreach from 1960-1966. Zurbrigg died in 2002.
Edgar Zuna was born on 15 November 1920 in Budapest, Hungary. After completing basic training at Horthy Alap, he joined the Hungarian Air Force and commenced advance training in Szombathely and then at Reconnaissance Flight Training School in Szekesfehervar. In June 1942, he departed for Russia with the 3/2 Reconnaissance Squadron. On 29 September 1942 he reported to the Royal Hungarian Air Force Academy in Budapest where he was put in charge of the basic military ground training after receiving the Silver Medal for Bravery and the German Iron Cross for forty-six sorties. On 20 August 1943 he joined the 102/2 Quick Bomber Squadron in Hajduboszormeny. In May 1945, the United States Army took him to Pfarrkirchen where approximately 3500 German and Hungarian military personnel were kept in captivity. He was registered with the United States Army as an ex member of the Hungarian Armed Forces.
In the winter of 1946, after living as a refugee in Tainach and then in Treffling, Edgar Zuna and his family, with substantial assistance from the Red Cross, moved to London, England, to work at the Old Ride School. Zuna then moved to Oxford to work at the Campion Hall, a Jesuit College, as head of the domestic staff. In July 1951, he immigrated to Canada where he found employment as a preflight inspector with Canadair in Montreal. In December 1956 he became a Canadian citizen. In May 1957 he joined the 3001 Technical Training Unit of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), providing practical training at St.Hubert Air station on service aircraft.
Two years later, he became an Aircraft Engineer with the 438 Squadron of Montreal Technical Branch. He served with the RCAF until 1956 when he transferred to one of Canadair's Industrial Engineering Sections. In 1963, he became a Flight Test Coordinator for the Canadian Marconi Company. In 1969 he became Chief Industrial Engineer for the United States Air Force in Goose Bay, Labrador. In 1973, he took on the position of Executive Assistant to the Airport Manager in Goose Bay. In 1975, he became Superintendant of Operations at the Toronto Airport. In 1976, he became Chief of Administration and Executive Services for the Airports and Construction Directorate in Ottawa. In January 1986, Edgar Zuna retired.
Bernard Zukerman (1943 - ) is an investigative journalist, documentarian and film maker. A graduate of Osgoode Law School, Bernard Zukerman joined CBC Television in 1973 to develop story ideas for the dramatic series, For the Record. He then joined CBC Winnipeg's Current Affairs Department. He returned to Toronto in 1975 to become producer of the 5th Estate. In 1981, after a year as Executive Assistant to the CBC's Director of Television, Zukerman joined the staff of CBC's Journal as Senior Editor. In this capacity, he was responsible for creating the Journal's documentary unit, the largest in the country and the only unit to produce a documentary five nights a week. Zukerman then left the Journal to join CBC's Drama Department. There, his mandate was to develop Canadian dramas that drew on his experience as an investigative journalist and documentarian. Zukerman's first film, And Then You Die, 1986, a profile of underworld drug dealing, won five Gemini Awards and numerous prizes at international film festivals. His next film, Skate! won the Gemini for best Canadian TV movie. Zukerman's third film, The Squamish Five, 1988, focused on anti-nuclear protestors who were convicted of blowing up Toronto's Litton Systems' plant in 1982. The film won the Gemini for Best Canadian TV movie as well as other numerous prizes at international festivals. Love and Hate: The Story of Colin and JoAnn Thatcher, 1990, won five Gemini Awards and was the most watched entertainment program of the year. Further, it was the first foreign program ever sold to an American network and when NBC broadcasted it in 1991, it finished first for the week. Conspiracy of Silence was first telecast on CBC in 1991. It was then purchased and aired by the American network, CBS, in 1992. Dieppe followed on CBC in 1994. Million Dollar Babies was next, premiering on both CBC and CBS in November 1994. Net Worth aired on CBC in 1995. The Sleep Room is Zukerman's latest mini-series. It aired on CBC in January 1998.
Timothy Melvin Zuck, Canadian artist and educator, was born in 1947 in Erie, Pennsylvania. He attended Wilmington College from 1966-1967 and 1968-1969. There he majored in philosophy and psychology and took a few courses in art history and sculpture. In 1967-1968, Zuck joined his parents on a year-long mission to India, where he studied at Madras Christian College. Zuck received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) in 1971. While at NSCAD, he did performance, film, photographic and other process-oriented and conceptual projects. In Halifax Zuck met and married Robyn Randell. He then earned his Master of Fine Arts from the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California in 1972. After completing his graduate studies, Zuck returned to NSCAD in late 1972, where he was Assistant Professor until 1979. While teaching at NSCAD, he continued to work on his conceptual projects. In 1975, Zuck began to focus on painting, in which he had no formal training. In 1979, he resigned from NSCAD and began to paint full-time in Purcell’s Cove, near Halifax, Nova Scotia. Zuck became a Canadian citizen in 1983. The Zucks moved from Purcell’s Cove to Kingston, Ontario, where they lived from 1982-1984 and then lived for three years in downtown Toronto, where their daughter, Anna, was born in 1985. They then moved to Midland, Ontario. In addition to taking part in many artist expeditions, Zuck won a poster competition for the XV Olympic Winter Games in 1988 in Calgary, Alberta. He moved to Calgary in 2002 to teach at the Alberta College of Art and Design. Tim Zuck is represented by the Sable-Castelli Gallery in Toronto, Ontario and the Paul Kuhn Gallery in Calgary, Alberta. His work has been included in numerous group and solo exhibitions in Canada, the United States and Europe, and may be found in the collections of numerous Canadian galleries and museums.
Zdzislaw Ludwig Zseliski, known as Dick Szeliski, was born in Poland in 1924. He was a member of the Polish Underground Army and took part in the 1944 Warsaw uprising. After liberation from a prisoner of war camp, he joined the Polish Second Corps in Italy. He moved to London after the war and obtained a Civil Engineering degree before beginning his professional career in 1950 at the Bridge Design Office of British Railways. He moved to Canada in 1951 and joined the Engineering Department of Canadian National Railways (CNR). He was Senior Structural Engineer at CNR in the 1950s when the Victoria Bridge Diversion was under construction. He was promoted to Assistant Chief Engineer – Structures and became responsible for Design, Construction and Maintenance of bridges and buildings across the CN systems. At the time of his retirement in 1986, he held the post of Chief Engineer, Bridges and Structures. After his retirement from CNR, he worked as a consultant for CANAC International on several international projects. Szeliski was an active member of the Canadian Standards Association, chairing its Committee on Concrete Railway Bridges, among other roles. He gave a number of lectures of the Victoria Bridge. He married Jadwiga Mieszkowska in 1954 and they had two children. Szeliski died 23 January 2018.
Rachel Sydney Zolf, poet, editor and critic, was born in Toronto. She is the author of several collections of poetry and chapbooks. Her books include: Human resources (2007), winner of the 2008 Trillium Book Award for Poetry and finalist for a Lambda Literary Award; Masque (2004), which was shortlisted for the 2005 Trillium Book Award for Poetry; and Her absence, this wanderer (1999), the title poem of which was a finalist in the CBC Literary Competition. Her chapbooks include: Shoot and weep (2008), from human resources (2005) and the naked & the nude (2004). Her poetry has been published in numerous journals, including Tessera (1992), Fireweed (1994, 1996, 1998), Capilano review (2001) and West coast line (2005), and her essays and reviews have appeared in journals such as Xcp: Cross-cultural poetics (2008) and West coast line (2008). Zolf was the founding poetry editor of The walrus magazine, where she edited poetry from 2004 to 2006, and she has also edited several books by other poets. Between 1987 and 1992, Zolf pursued English and History majors at the University of Toronto. Zolf began writing poetry in 1991. She apprenticed as a documentary filmmaker with Gail Singer Films Inc. (1990-1992). During the 1990s, Zolf worked as a researcher, producer and director on several documentary and experimental videos and films. In 2001, Zolf began working as a copywriter and editor to supplement her artist's income.
Larry Zolf, journalist and writer, was born in 1934. He received a B.A. from the University of Manitoba in 1956, studied Law at Osgoode Law School, Toronto, and has held the position of writer, news and current affairs reporter, producer, and consultant for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in Toronto since 1962. He is the author of several books. His novel, 'Scorpions for Sale' (1989) won a nomination for the Leacock Award for Humour.
Joshua Falek Zolf, writer and teacher, was born in 1898 in Poland, where he attended yeshivah from 1909 until the start of World War I. He found work at a leather factory in Yaroslavl, Russia, in 1916 so that he would not be forced into compulsory military service, but the Kerensky revoluntion led Zolf to volunteer for the Russian army. He was captured by the German army on the Galician front, and was a prisoner of war in East Prussia in 1918. He returned to his home village of Zastavia after the war, only to find the area consumed by civil war following the Bolshevik Revolution. He participated in the Jewish reconstruction of Poland starting in 1920, and became a teacher. Zolf emigrated to Canada in 1926 to escape Poland's antisemitism. His wife and children joined him in 1927 and they settled in Winnipeg's North End, where their fourth child, Larry Zolf, was born in 1934. After working as an itinerant teacher, he was appointed teacher and later principal at the Isaac Loeb Peretz Folk School. He was very active in the Yiddish literary community in Winnipeg, and frequently contributed essays to the Yiddish press. The memoirs of Zolf's early years in Europe were published in 1945 under the title, "Oyf fremder erd = On foreign soil," which was translated by Martin Green and re-published in 2000. Zolf also wrote "Di lets·te fun a dor : heymishe gesh·tal·tn = Last of a generation," 1952, and "Undzer ·kul·tur hemshekh : eseyen = Our eternal culture : essays," 1956. Falek Zolf died in 1961.
Zion Eveangelical Lutheran Church holds the distinction of being Vaughan's oldest church congregation, having its origins with the families of Jacob and Michael Keffer, Jacob Fischer (Fisher) and several others from Berlin, Somerset County, Pennsylvania. The congregation was without a pastor and a church building until 1819, when Rev. Johann Dietrich Petersen arrived from Pennsylvania, and a building was erected on the third concession near Sherwood (today encompassed by Concord). The land on which the subject church was erected was deeded to the Trustees of the Evangelical Lutheran Church by Jacob Keffer. At the time of copying of the subject fonds, the congregation remained in existence. The place-name ultimately associated with the church was Concord, which came to encompass and supplant Sherwood in the late 19th-century.
Selma Zimmerman, scientist and professor, was born in 1930 in New York City. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hunter College and completed graduate school at New York University. She married Arthur M. Zimmerman, a zoologist. The couple and their children moved to Toronto in 1964 and in 1965, Selma Zimmerman joined the Division of Natural Science at Glendon College. In addition to assisting her husband with his research, Zimmerman's research interests include: influence of cannabinoids on cell function and fertilization; influence of hydrostatic pressure on cell strucure and cell function. Zimmerman remained at Glendon College until her retirement from teaching in 1996. Selma Zimmerman has held additional positions, including: Advisor to the University on the Status of Women from 1991-1994, Coordinator of Natural Science (Glendon College), Coordinator of Women's Studies (Glendon College), President of the Canadian Association for Women in Science, and Associate Editor of the Canadian Journal of Biochemistry and Cell Biology.
Professor Ernest R. Zimmermann, Ph.D, was born June 18, 1931 in Cologne, Germany to Josef and Katharina Zimmermann. Zimmermann grew up in war-time Nazi Germany, and eventually was sent first to the Baltic Sea, then to the Eifel region, and finally to Delitzsch, Saxony. He was liberated by the U.S. Army's Timber Wolf Division at the end of April 1945. In June 1945 he journeyed back home to Cologne with his sister and later removed from school in 1947 to aid in reconstructing the family's home and business while become a butcher's apprentice. He worked as a journeyman for various employers before emigrating to Canada in Oct. 1953. He completed his high school diploma, and then attended McMaster University and attained an Honours B.A. in History in 1961. Through a Commonwealth Scholarship Zimmermann attended the University of London, Englad where he received his doctorate in Russian History in 1968. While in Canada, he met and married Betty Davidson in Stratford, Ontario in 1959 with whom he had two children/ He was remarried in 1992 to Beverley Leaman. Zimmermann returned to Canada and first taught at the University of Saskatchewan before he began his lengthy career at Lakehead University in 1967. At the university he was elected to various offices by his colleagues including: President of the L.U. Faculty Association (1973-1974, 1988-1989), the Canadian Association of University Teachers' Collective Bargaining Co-operative executive (1988-1991), the L.U. Senate and Board of Governors (1991-1994), Chair of the Department of History (1977-1978), and as Dean of the Arts (1978-1983). In the Thunder Bay community he served as a canvasser for the NDP in many provincial and federal elections. He also served on the City's Local Architectural Conservation Authority Committee, was an executive of the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society, and the National Exhibition Centre for Indian Art. From 1974 to 1982 he produced and moderated a local phone-in television show called Forum. Zimmermann passed away on Aug. 24 2008 in Thunder Bay at the age of 77.
Member of the Canadian Antique Phonograph Society and has published a number of articles. He is an avid historian and genealogist.
Sally Friedberg Zerker (1928- ) was born and educated in Toronto, receiving a PhD from the University of Toronto in 1972. She joined the Division of Social Science at York University in 1970 and also taught for many years in the Department of Economics on a secondment. In 1994, Zerker published a book of articles as editor and contributor, entitled Change and Impact and is the author of The Rise and Fall of the Toronto Typographical Union, 1832-1972 (1982). She has also authored several articles dealing with labour history, the economic thought of Harold Innis, and the political economy of the international oil industry. Zerker was a member of the Ontario Energy Board and has made many contributions to the regulation and restructuring of the electricity and natural gas industries in Ontario.
Percy Zealand (1895-1957) was born in Port Hope to John H. and Mary Zealand on 24 Feb 1895. The second youngest of five children, Percy graduated from Port Hope High School (PHHS). After high school Percy joined the Royal Canadian Air Force and served during World War I, 1914-1918. Upon his return he married Irene Thirnbeck, 23 May 1921. It is unknown if the pair had any children. Percy died of tuberculosis after a long stint in a sanitarium, 1957. He is buried at Canton Cemetery.
Donald Elliott Zarfas was born on 3 July 1920 in Hamilton, Ontario. He and his family moved to Orillia when he was six years old. He grew up on the grounds of the Orillia Hospital School for infants, children and adults with developmental disabilities (formerly called mental retardation), which later became the Huronia Regional Centre. His father was the business manager at the hospital. Growing up in this environment sparked an interest in working with persons with developmental disabilities, and this became the life-long focus of his later career. Sometime after finishing secondary school at Orillia Collegiate Institute, Donald served in the Royal Canadian Air Force and Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps Reserve (1941 - 1946). Returning to school, he later obtained a medical degree from Queen's University in Kingston in 1952, a Diploma in Psychiatry from the University of Toronto in 1957, and a Specialist Certificate in Psychiatry from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in 1958. His post-graduate training included a Junior Rotating Residency at Hotel Dieu Hospital in Kingston (1952 - 1953), a residency in psychiatry at the University of Toronto (1955 - 1957), and a course in mental retardation at Letchworth Village in New York (1958). Dr. Zarfas held many professional appointments throughout his career, beginning with a position at the Ontario Hospital School in Orillia (1953 - 1955). In 1958 he became a Staff Psychiatrist at Ontario Hospital, Hamilton, and a Psychiatric Consultant to Lynwood Hall, which was also in Hamilton (1958 - 1959). Moving on to London, Ontario, he helped to found the Children's Psychiatric Research Institute (CPRI) at the University of Western Ontario in December 1959. He was its first Superintendent, a position he held until June 1965. While at the University of Western Ontario, Dr. Zarfas also held teaching positions, specifically as a Clinical Lecturer in Psychiatry (1960 - 1963) and a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry (1963 - 1965). In addition, Dr. Zarfas served as a Consultant in Mental Retardation to the Ontario Ministry of Health during that time (1963 - June 1965). Dr. Zarfas moved to Toronto to fill the position of Director of the Mental Retardation Services Branch of the Ontario Ministry of Health in July 1965 and held that position until March 1974. Dr. Zarfas was one of the key persons who worked on the transferral of the Mental Retardation Services Branch from the Ministry of Health to the Ministry of Community and Social Services, and became the Executive Director of the Mental Retardation Program Development Division of the latter Ministry in April 1974. He was also responsible for bringing Dr. Benjt Nirje - a world leader in the field of normalization with respect to mental retardation - and Dr. Joe Berg, an expert in Down Sydrome - to work with him at the Ontario Ministry of Health from Denmark and Great Britain, respectively. Returning to London in 1974, Dr. Zarfas resumed various teaching appointments in the Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the University of Western Ontario. More specifically, he was a Clinical Professor in both Departments from 1974 to 1975, an Associate Professor in both Departments in October 1976, the Acting Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry (1977 - 1978), a Professor of Psychiatry and the Associate Director of Pediatrics (July 1978), a Professor of Pediatrics (1980), the Assistant Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry (August 1981), and the Acting Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry (October 1985 - June 1986). Dr. Zarfas became a Professor Emeritus in Psychiatry and Pediatrics in 1988. Aside from his clinical and teaching appointments, Dr. Zarfas was a consultant to the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Community and Social Services with regard to numerous institutions that treated persons with developmental disabilities located in Southwestern Ontario. He was also a consultant to several other health related organizations such as the World Health Organization, for which he was a consultant in mental retardation from 1969-1970. In addition, Dr. Zarfas was an important member of many committees and a participant in several task forces throughout his career. For instance, he chaired the Professional Advisory Council of the Canadian Association for Retarded Children (1964 - 1975) and he chaired the provincial Professional Advisory Committee for the Ministry of Community and Social Services and the Ministry's Task Force on Disturbed Retarded in the 1970s and 1980s. He also sat on numerous committees while employed at the University of Western Ontario (UWO) including the UWO/CPRI Liaison Committee and the Appointments, Tenure and Promotions Committee. Dr. Zarfas was an active member of several professional associations, including serving as President of the Ontario Psychiatric Association (OPA) and chair of the OPA's Legislative Review Committee. He was also a member of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), a Fellow of the American Association on Mental Deficiency (AAMD) (1968), a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (1972), a member the International Association for the Scientific Study of Mental Retardation (IASSMD), a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Psychiatric Association (CPA), a member of the Canadian Academy of Child Psychiatrists, a member of the Harvey Club, and a member of the Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem. In the area of research in the field of developmental disabilities, Dr. Zarfas was an author or co-author of several significant studies pertaining to such issues as the relationship of Depo Provera to breast cancer, the incidence of Down's Syndrome with respect to maternal age, the sterilization of people with developmental disabilities, and other human rights issues with respect to persons with developmental disabilities. A long-term research interest and specialty of Dr. Zarfas was that of dually diagnosed persons-that is, persons diagnosed both as having developmental disabilities as well as some form of mental illness. For his long and distinguished career, Dr. Zarfas was awarded the Surrey Place Centre (Toronto) Award of Merit on 28 Sept. 1983 and the Hull-Roeher Award of Merit, the latter of which was presented to him by Ontario's Minister of Community and Social Services at the annual meeting of the Ontario Chapter, American Association on Mental Deficiency on 7 May 1986. He also received the American Psychiatric Association Gold Award on behalf of the Children's Psychiatric Research Institute (CPRI) as its founder in 1970, and has a room named after him at the Surrey Place Centre. Dr. Zarfas was one of the leading proponents for moving mental retardation out of field of psychiatry and into the field of community and social services, for moving people with development disabilities out of large impersonal institutions and into community-based facilities such as group homes, and for moving away from over-medication of persons with developmental disabilities to other forms of treatment. He was also a strong advocate for the human rights of persons with developmental disabilities and that they be treated fairly, humanely and, more than anything, respectfully. Dr. Zarfas died from the effects of leukemia in London, Ontario, on 12 October 2001. He was survived by his wife Jean, who was also a highly regarded physician, and their two daughters. Dr. Jean Zarfas died of cancer on 29 March 2003.