The Sunnyvale Sun

Community

Longtime resident, community leader dies

By Stephen Baxter

Ann Zarko, an early Sunnyvale and Cupertino resident and dedicated community leader, died at her home Feb. 17. She was 96.

Zarko worked for decades with St. Martin Catholic Church in Sunnyvale, arranging the altar's flowers and organizing the holiday bazaar.

After Sunnyvale had been largely cleared of its orchards by the early 1950s, she also helped lead a tree planting campaign that gave the city many of its tree-lined streets.

"She was such a lovely, nice, quiet person," said Jeanine Stanek, her friend of 30 years. "A lot of the types of things she did for the city were these behind the scenes, worker kinds of things ... she really led a corps of women who worked with her, and everybody loved working with her," Stanek said.

Ann Jane Lopin was born in 1910 to Croatian immigrants who settled in the Santa Clara Valley. As one of the pioneering orchardist families, they had 10 acres of prunes and apricots near Stelling and Homestead roads in Cupertino, and she worked there as a ranch hand. She attended Collins School, Cupertino Union School and Fremont High School.

With a loan from her father in 1933, she opened what was perhaps the first salon in Cupertino, the Cupertino Beauty Shop. It was in the back room of Loughead Ice Cream Parlor near Stevens Creek and De Anza boulevards.

In 1935, she married Pete Zarko, who worked in auto repair and at the Hendy Iron Works, and had her only child, David, in 1949.

She lived near the corner of Mathilda Avenue and El Camino Real in Sunnyvale, and continued her volunteer work for the next half a century.

"My memory of her as a child was that she was always president of something, and sometimes two things," said David Zarko, who lives in Scranton, Pa. "I remember being so small I was grabbing onto her skirt while she attended UC (Agricultural) Extension meetings."

Ann Zarko was a founding member of Floraphiles, a flower arranging society, and was involved in the University of California's agricultural programs. She helped found the holiday bazaar at St. Martin's and aided the Sunnyvale Historical Society with her keen memory for people and dates.

"She was sharp as a tack," and a natural leader, Stanek said.

Three weeks before her death, Zarko held a meeting with other volunteers to revive the holiday bazaar. She had made crocheted pillows and quilts with donated materials, and sold them at past bazaars. Her friends say she never tired.

A memorial service was held at St. Martin's on Feb. 22.

Her husband died in 1988, but she is survived by her son and three nieces: Shirley Horning of San Jose, Linda Siekel of Campbell and Gail Dunham of San Diego.