Michael Joseph Zollitsch

Michael J. Zollitsch passed away peacefully surrounded by family after a valiantly fought three-year battle with metastatic prostate cancer on Friday, April 15, 2022. Mike was born in Long Beach, California on August 7, 1958. He lived an idyllic childhood in southern California until his family moved to Portland, OR when he was in middle school. Mike graduated from Reynolds High School in the class of 1976. He graduated from Sierra Nevada College with a degree in Environmental Science. Once back in Portland Mike went to work for the State of Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) where he spent 38 years in various positions retiring as the Emergency Response and Spill Prevention Manager, Land Quality Division. Throughout his career he commuted by bicycle most days. He participated in many group bike rides to the Oregon coast and in and around Maui. He and Renée and their daughters, Nicole and Danielle spent many good times camping, boating, family beach trips, and traveling back and forth to their favorite places in Hawaii. He was a master scuba diver and combined that love with his passion for photography which produced amazing photographs. Mike coached both daughters in Little League and ASA softball which gave him great joy. He was always their number one fan in sports and in life. Mike enjoyed competing in Triathlons and always placed well in his age category. He loved waterskiing, snow skiing and any outdoor activity with his grandsons. He was a lifelong Los Angeles Angels baseball fan getting his first foul ball at age 6 (then Anaheim Angels).

He was preceded in death by his parents Joseph and Harriett Zollitsch and his sister Carolyn Strot. He is survived by his wife Renée, their daughters Nicole Timm (Bob) and Danielle Heinlein (Sam) and his four adored grandsons, Andrew, Jackson, Zayden, and Zachary, his sister’s daughters Amantha Patrick and Andrea Grende, his mother-in-law Myrna O’Brien as well as many other beloved nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Mike was a longtime supporter and rescuer at the Oregon Humane Society where his latest rescue was his beloved Canine Cancer Companion, Zeena adopted two years ago. If you’d like to make a donation in his name he would be honored for you to choose OHS or River of Life Lutheran Church, Troutdale, OR where he worshiped and served for the past twenty years.