Obituary of Barbara Zapotocky Athens

Barbara Zapotocky Athens

Barbara was born in Knox County, Nebraska to Paul and Hilda (Block) Cihlar on September 1, 1937.  She graduated from Verdigre High School in 1955 and became a flight attendant for United Airlines.  She married the love of her life, Joseph Zapotocky, on October 25, 1958 and together they had five children.  Barbara worked in Real Estate as both a realtor and broker.  She also owned a real estate company in Colorado Springs for a number of years.  Barbara was a devoted advocate for the unborn through her work with and leadership in Right to Life.  She was a Board Member for the Nebraska Coalition for Life from 1978-80 and served as President of the Colorado Springs Chapter of Right of Life in the 1980’s.  Barbara also advocated for the Developmentally Disabled and served with the Nebraska Association for Retarded Citizens as the legislative Chairperson from 1971-74 and as a Board Member from 1976-78.  Barbara, along with her husband Joe, had great compassion for the Marriage Encounter and Cursillo ministries within their church.  Experiencing the retreat weekends as participants and then being team leaders changed their lives and strengthened both their faith and their marriage.  Barbara enjoyed traveling throughout Europe and Scandinavia with her daughter Sandra and son-in-law Marcus while they were stationed in Germany with the Air Force.  She also visited and traveled with her son Scott while he had a semester abroad during college in Florence, Italy.  Barbara visited the village of Amedeka, Ghana,West Africa, when her son Scott was in the Peace Corps.  She donated and helped raise funds to construct a soccer field for the village.  Barbara and Scott made the documentart film “Wezo to Amedeka (Welcome to Amedeka) in 2001, to tell the story of the villade and the journey of the Peace Corps volunteers.  Barbara also vacationed in Morocco and South Africa.

Barbara passed away on December 11, 2018 in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.  She is survived by her sons, Michael Zapotocky of Lake Havasu City, Arizona and Scott Zapotocky (wife Sarah Tendall of Sebastopol, California and her daughters, Cynthia Odabasi (husband Turan) of LincolN, Nebraska; Sandra Schulthess (husband Marcus) of Arvada, Colorado; and Karen La Fever (husband Todd) of Charlotte, North Carolina.  AS well as her grandchildren Cassandra Dietrich (husband Karl) and Rachel Odabasi; Anika, Adam, and Kyle Schulthess; Tait, Lacy, and Paige La Fever; and Mason, Ryder, and Violet Zapotocky.

She is preceded in death by her husband, her parents, and her brother Harold Cihlar.

Memorials may be given to the American Stroke Association (through the American Heart Association), Alzheimer’s Association, or the Cancer Research Institute.