Former CAP President Dr. Raymond C. Zastrow Dies at Age 85
Raymond C. Zastrow, M.D., age 85, of Venice, Fla., died Thursday, April, 28, 2016, at Sarasota Memorial Hospital following complications from surgery. He was born in Milwaukee, Wis., Aug. 7, 1930, to Violet and Raymond Zastrow.
Ray attended Rufus King and Custer high schools, where he was first-chair clarinet. At Marquette University he studied chemistry, working nights cleaning brewing vats at Schlitz. He finished an M.D. degree at Marquette School of Medicine.
Ray met Mary M. Schendt on the dance floor at Moose Lake and it was quickly thereafter they were married at St Sebastian’s on June 11, 1955.
He was allocated from the Army to the Navy and spent his service at Bremerton, Wash., where he and Mary started a family and made life-time friends. He used his G.I. benefits to learn how to fly and held a twin-engine IFR instructor rating.
Ray was an eternal student with additional degrees in nuclear medicine and a master’s in education, and he was a master parliamentarian.
On returning to Milwaukee, he began a storied 40-year career in pathology at St Michael’s Hospital as a consummate physician, leader and teacher. He was a president of Marquette/MCW Alumni Association, a Walter Zeit Fellow and alumnus of the year. He was an adjunct professor at the medical school, where he lectured and served on many committees, including admissions.
He was president of the College of American Pathologists for two years and was named Pathologist of the Year in 1998. He was an AMA delegate, a president of the Milwaukee Medical Society and president of the Wisconsin State Medical Society in 1991.
Ray and Mary chose Wauwatosa, Wis., to raise their four children but spent the summers on nearby North Lake. Eighteen years later the family made North Lake their home.
He raced C-scow sailboats, was commodore of the yacht club and supported his childrens’ sailboat racing.
Ray had great enthusiasm in everything he did, but his greatest passion was golf. He was a member of Bluemound Country Club for over four decades. He was also a member of Chenequa C.C. and Plantation G.&C.C. in Venice, where he split time in his retirement.
Golf was the backdrop for many family events, such as birthdays, weddings and anniversaries, including the famed 50th, 55th and 60th wedding anniversaries.
Ray was a world traveler and loved meeting new people. He was gregarious and outgoing, yet he could spend hours alone just driving and exploring new places.
He was a varmint hunter and a master Easter basket hider, taking great delight in trying to outwit squirrels and children of all ages with new traps and new Easter basket hiding spots.
He was a collector of steins, a gourmand, an appreciator of obscure apple varieties, a crossword puzzle aficionado and a connoisseur of German wines and single-malt Scotch.
He was a poker buddy, sailor, pilot, skier and music appreciator from classics to country. One could easily hear Gilbert & Sullivan or Chet Atkins in his car.
He was an usher, a Knight of Columbus and a friend to countless charities.
He is survived by his wife, Mary; his sons, Raymond J. Zastrow and wife, Mary Kay, of Mequon, Wis., Joseph F. Zastrow and his wife, Caroline, of Mooresville, N.C., Lawrence R. Zastrow and partner, Frank Prinz, of Charlotte, N.C., and Barbara Mattrisch and her husband, Donald, of Englewood, Fla.
He is also survived by his grandchildren, Liz Licht (Tim) of Sheboygan, Wis., Jennifer Zastrow (Matt Poedel) of Cedarburg Wis., Stephen Zastrow, Thomas Zastrow and Catherine Zastrow of Mequon, Wis., Carrie Zastrow of Winston-Salem, N.C., Melissa Meyer of Wauwatosa, Madelyn Meyer (Bradley Palmer) of Random Lake, Wis., Michael Meyer of Arcata, Calif., and Johnathon Behrend of Chicago, Ill. He is also survived by one great-grandchild, Owen Palmer.
He was and will remain loved and respected by all.
Services: A mass of celebration of his life will be held Saturday, May 14, at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of Lourdes, Venice, with a lunch to follow at the Plantation Golf & Country Club. Burial will be sometime in Hartland, Wis. To share a memory, visit: FarleyFuneralHome.com.
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