Heroic spirit
Life's journey ends for Zooneyfest founder


Photo provided
Joe Zunic made his first trip to Alaska before his diagnosis with ALS in 2003.


File photo
Joe Zunic of Maine, who was diagnosed with ALS, communicated by way of a machine that translates his typed words into “spoken” words. The dot of light projected onto his forehead helped him spell out letters.

IF YOU GO
The family of Joe Zunic will receive visitors from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday at Allen Memorial Home, 511 E. Main St., Endicott. A memorial Mass will take place at 10:30 Tuesday morning at Most Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church, 36 Main St., Maine.

Valerie Zehl
Neighbors



Disease stripped Joe Zunic of life, but death can claim no victory.

ALS -- amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, otherwise known as Lou Gehrig's disease -- had stalked him since late in 2003. He was 28 then and in the thick of another hunting season when he noticed he didn't have the strength to shoot his bow and arrow.

Inexorably and with excruciating relentlessness, ALS overtook his body in the poignant years that followed.

Joe, 33, died in his Town of Maine home Thursday night.

Initially Joe, a man with a well-developed independent streak -- railed against a disease that he knew would bring an aspect he would hate: He would inevitably need help from others while not being able to give it.

But as the reality of his body's fate became undeniable, Joe slowly transformed, allowing his loved ones to minister to his needs even as he reached beyond his limitations to remain vital -- and giving -- in life.

His parents, Diane and John, took him to France and plunged him into the waters of Lourdes four times.

Joe wasn't cured, but his heart had been healed into acceptance, he later said.

"The most remarkable thing about him is that he wasn't an angry man, given the circumstances he was in," says longtime friend Jared Bowling of Endwell. As the disease progressed, Bowling came to stay with Joe every Saturday night so Joe's parents could catch up on their sleep.

In a recent interview, Joe -- who could then communicate only through the use of a machine that translated his typed words into "spoken" words -- expressed his awe at the friends and family who gathered close around him as the disease stole more and more of his strength.

Joe had always loved a good party; he threw plenty of them himself. Three years ago, friends tried to strong-arm him into letting them hold a benefit for him. He finally relented, under the condition that it would become an annual event, with all future proceeds going to some other person stricken with need.

The first Zooneyfest was done in his trademark style, bringing in 4,000 friends from as far as Florida and California. Joe, on a golf cart, was in the middle of all the music and fun. Along with a crew of more than 90 volunteers, the gang ate its way through 2,500 chicken dinners, two roasted pigs and 1,000 burgers and hot dogs. It was fully a Zunic-style fiesta -- with something more.

Joe's buddies hoisted him onto the stage, where he thanked the crowd and led them in saying the Lord's Prayer.

The two later Zooneyfests pulled in thousands of people too, explains organizer Nadine Toton of Maine. Joe took great care in choosing the beneficiaries of each event.

As close as she has been the last many years, losing Joe will leave a big hole in her life and her heart.

But in her sadness she feels relief for him, knowing he no longer has to suffer, she says.

Not long ago, Joe and his aunt were talking, and his words spoke volumes about his spiritual growth.

"He said if he had to choose between being well, as he used to be, or having ALS, he'd choose ALS because he was such a different person now," explains Shelly Enfield of Maine.

In a 2005 interview, Joe said, "I was very angry at God for a while; I guess that's only human. Through prayer, I've come to realize that it's all part of his plan for me."

Tom Janik and Joe sat next to each other in first grade, played football together at Maine-Endwell High School, then lost track of one another for a few years.

They were reunited when Janik, of Endwell, became Joe's physical therapist more than two years ago.

"I can honestly say he truly was amazing," says Janik. "Inspirational to everyone who works in our office, patients who came in."

There will be a void in the office of Southern Tier Physical Therapy on Mondays and Thursdays from now on, he says. "We looked forward to those days when he'd come in."

Even toward the end, Joe set himself to accomplishing several projects, which he coordinated through the use of his computer and the loving hands of friends.

A couple of months ago, he made a request: that all the Tonka toys he and his brother J played with would be sandblasted and repainted, then given to his nieces and nephew for Christmas, says Joe's sister-in-law, Beth Ann Zunic of Endicott.

Earlier Thursday, Joe's friend Lori Janik was painting windows on a toy barn built for Joe by another friend, Tom Shank.

Little Sean Michael Zunic isn't even 2 yet, but he loves trucks and bulldozers and tractors as much as Uncle Joey did, she says. Before the ALS struck, Joe worked with his father in the family excavation business.

"All those who had the privilege of knowing or meeting him in the community were better people for knowing Joe Zunic, that's for sure," says Tom Janik. "We throw the word 'hero' around loosely in our world, but he's a man who truly fit the word.

"God works in mysterious ways, and he definitely worked through Joe."

Thursday evening, Joe's parents heard a whispered word through the intercom system that tied them constantly to their son.

Almost unable to speak, Joe was saying, "Hands, hands."

When he had said such words before, he had been asking them to reposition his hands for him, or use their hands to adjust his clothing or some such request.

This time, they couldn't make sense of the words -- until they spoke with a hospice worker later.

Sometimes those near the very end of their journey will say that word, she said. Are they seeing hands that will welcome them into the beyond, she speculated, or are they possibly seeing the hand of God?

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