Connie Sue Ziska

Connie Sue Ziska was born February 13th 1947 in Salina Kansas to Alvin and Mabel Porter. She enjoyed almost anything creative. She loved painting, ceramics, gardening, making jewelry, collecting rocks and glass eggs, and sewing. She even made her own wedding dress and helped make all the bridesmaid dresses for her wedding day.

She met Fred Ziska at a bar on Colfax where they were instantly connected. They dated while he continued his training and Connie studied to be a nurse. They married in 1971. Their first fiery-haired boy was born on April 10th 1976 in Jacksonville Florida. Cazzy was a smiling, bright blue-eyed bundle of joy. He was always so calm and happy.

The second red-headed lil’ man was hatched on November 7th 1978 in Jacksonville as well. Kevin was a feisty handful from that day forth, always keeping them on their toes. Fred’s father said that he looked like a baby bird waiting for a worm, because he always had his mouth open. They moved to El Paso soon after.

Fred was a pilot and was gone a lot while the boys were young. They would move frequently to stay close to where Fred was stationed and she would always be there to make it comfortable. The boys thought that every kid moved around like that, they had no problem making friends anywhere they went. Then the third carrot-topped creature came to them on December 23rd 1982 in San Francisco. Christopher was timid and was always scrambling for the older boys attention.

She focused all her time and energy into raising those three boys by giving them experiences that would influence them forever. It was very important for her to show them everything she possibly could. She really understood the urgency of life… that time is so very precious.

Fred and Connie divorced; it was very hard on the boys, especially Cazzy who was 10. She remarried to a rough country cowboy who brought along four children of his own. Tom Zawatzki shared her passion for rock collecting and enjoying the outdoors. These were important years, when the kids were discovering themselves and what they wanted out of life. The relationships that those kids made with each other would last forever.

Connie earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology so that she could help troubled teens. During her schooling period she would work all day, come home to take care of the boys, and then stay up late into the night doing homework. She spent many years counseling youths and would make numerous house visits on her own dime to make sure everyone was making progress. She treated everyone as if an extension of her own family. She loved her time with other people. Relationships were her specialty. She could create a friendship with anyone and would treat it very tenderly. She knew many of the secrets to life yet she would never just tell you, she would SHOW you in a way that meant much, much more.

Tom and Connie divorced. The kids went their separate ways to start building their own lives. Then her health began to decline due to multiple respiratory issues. She started taking oxygen just at night while she would sleep; she resisted ever using it and hated to be seen with it on. She sold her home, moved most of her belongings into storage and went to live with her mother Mabel. It was meant to help Grandma, it was supposed to be temporary, but as her financial and health status declined it became more permanent.

The last years of Connie’s life were spent living in a bedroom at her mother’s house. All her belongings she had collected over the years that held so much sentimental value were locked away. She would never more admire her collections of rare rocks and glass eggs. Her antique furniture and jewelry wouldn’t be used again until a grandchild dusted them off to play. She just lay there in bed, watching movies, waiting for us to visit, waiting to hear the scamper of her grandchildren running to her door to see what new gift she had for them.

The time between those sounds grew longer and longer. We all got too busy with our lives while her life faded away. She would call just to check in then politely asked us to come over sometime soon. We all told ourselves tomorrow, we got time, we’ll see her tomorrow.

…well tomorrow never came.

We love you Connie Sue Ziska. You were a good sister, a great daughter, a tremendous wife and the best mother we could have ever hoped for. We miss you, and we will see you again. We just hope that you can look down on the remainder of our time here and be proud.

Cazzy, Kevin and Christopher - your three baby boys… forever.