Kathryn "Kathy" Zullo

Kathryn “Kathy” Zullo, of Fairview, North Carolina, who was a longtime winter resident of Tallahassee, died at Big Bend Hospice Monday, February 26, six weeks after being diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer. She was 69. Born in South Bend, Indiana, on December 28, 1948, to Leonard and Eleanor (Lang) Arnold, Kathy grew up in Rockford, Illinois, with her three siblings. Two months after her high school graduation, she and her teenage sweetheart Allan Zullo eloped to Benton Harbor, Michigan. The couple eventually raised their two daughters in Palm Beach County, Florida, where Kathy was an active volunteer at school and in the community. As a member of the Junior League of the Palm Beaches, she helped build up Women’s Horizons, an all-encompassing resource center for women of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds. She also was a docent at the Dreher Park Science Museum where she taught schoolchildren about ancient Native American cultures as well as reptiles and amphibians, enthralling kids by wrapping a python around her shoulders during her lectures. Throughout the 1980s, Kathy traveled to Central America on humanitarian missions as co-founder of the volunteer organization KIDS (Kids International Donors Society). Under her leadership, she helped local schools in Palm Beach County collect clothes, toys and other supplies, which she and other members of KIDS personally delivered to villages in war-ravaged countries. On several occasions, Kathy traveled into guerilla-occupied territory in Guatemala and El Salvador to bring medical supplies and clothes to indigenous people who were suffering from the consequences of civil war. Kathy loved to travel and reveled in such experiences as strolling through the morning mist amid the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu; getting tipsy on Pisco sours at a camp in the Amazon rainforest; sipping the newest vintages in family-run wineries in Tuscany and Sonoma; listening to a guitarist sing fado in a former Portuguese castle and a string quartet perform in a cave in Majorca; photographing frolicking orcas and calving icebergs off the Alaskan coast; watching the sunset from atop the grand Mayan temple at Tikal; celebrating her and Allan’s 50th wedding anniversary by train across the Canadian Rockies; hiking along the Napali Coast in Kauai; and watching the lava flow down Mount Etna in Sicily. In the summer of 1998, she and Allan worked alongside a flight crew that barnstormed Europe at air shows in a restored four-engine, triple-tailed 50-year-old Lockheed Constellation. In addition to raising a family, Kathy helped her husband Allan, who is a nonfiction author, edit and critique his book manuscripts and often helped in his research. She also had several books published, including the bestselling The New Lawyer’s Wit and Wisdom. In addition, she co-wrote with Allan, The Nanas and the Papas, a Boomer’s Guide to Grandparenting and created and wrote the popular annual Grandmas and Grandpas daily page desk calendar for more than ten years. Being a grandparent of five—she was called Nana—was by far her greatest joy. The main reason she spent her winters in Tallahassee was so she could spoil her three Florida grandchildren, Chad, Danny and Jack Manausa. When she was blessed with two more grandchildren in San Francisco—Ella and Dash Gorospe—Kathy often flew to California to play with them. She especially loved engaging in Nerf gun battles and cooking with them. Among her favorite times were the multi-generational family trips to Belize, St. Thomas, Mexico and Wisconsin as well as gatherings for the sake of being together. Young at heart, she loved playing games with her grandchildren, but showed her competitive spirit when playing cards with adults. She was especially shrewd at Pitch. Family was all important to Kathy and her No. 1 priority. She relished in her role as matriarch and doted on her daughters and grandchildren. She especially adored her sons-in-law and loved them as if they were her own flesh and blood. In 1995, as empty nesters, Kathy and Allan fell in love with the mountains and moved to Fairview, North Carolina, outside of Asheville, where she enjoyed hiking and kayaking and the Asheville restaurant scene. Although always petite, she was a self-proclaimed foodie who never faced a good meal she couldn’t finish. Known for her remarkable cooking skills, she hosted intimate dinner parties, prompting friends to call her the Martha Stewart of the Mountains. She often turned cocktail hour at home into hours-long adventures of trying new appetizers and drinks. A progressive at heart, Kathy never shied away from giving her opinion, which she occasionally shared in snappy, biting letters to the editor. A fierce debater, she had no patience for anyone who couldn’t back up their argument with facts and had no tolerance for fools and phonies. Whenever her friends went to her for advice, she was always brutally honest—and usually right. She possessed a razor-sharp wit that was most often displayed in letters and emails to family and friends. Kathy cherished her friendships and was always ready to help anyone in need, especially delivering her home-cooked meals to those who were sick or could use cheering up. She also enjoyed performing random acts of kindness like the Christmas she secretly left envelopes containing money at the doorsteps of complete strangers. Kathy is survived by her husband Allan, Fairview; daughters Allison (Danny) Manausa, Tallahassee, and Sasha (Mike) Gorospe, San Francisco; grandchildren, Chad, Danny and Jack Manausa, Tallahassee, and Ella and Dash Gorospe, San Francisco; sister Kay (Dwight) Linquist, Rockford, Illinois; brother Steve (Barbara) Arnold, Madison, Wisconsin, and brother Greg Arnold, Miami, Florida; several beloved nieces and nephews; and godson David (Alecia) Wartowski, his children Annika, Clara and Jackson, all of Evanston, Illinois, and his father Tom, of Chicago, Illinois. At Kathy’s request, there will be a “kick-ass” happy hour(s) party to celebrate a life well lived at the home of Danny and Allison Manausa beginning at 5 p.m. Saturday March 3. Another celebration of life will be held in Asheville later this spring. Kathy asked that any donations in her memory be made to Big Bend Hospice (bigbendhospice.org) or Food for Fairview (foodforfairview.org). Kelly Barber of Bevis Funeral Home in Tallahassee (850-385-2193 or www.bevisfh.com) is assisting the Zullo family with their arrangements.

Tributes

Kathryn "Kathy" Zullo

December 28, 1948 - February 26, 2018