Zitnik remembered as caring person
An old friend recalls the late bowling proprietor in his teenage years.
By JOHN BASSETTI
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
HUBBARD — Most people knew Ed Zitnik as a bowling proprietor, but it’s interesting to have a different perspective about the man who passed away suddenly on Christmas at age 55.
Ann Kridler knew Ed through her daughter, Beverly, who dated Zitnik through high school.
Kridler recalls Zitnik as a family friend, coming to her house on occasion in the last 20 years, snapping some caps of beer and sitting around on the front porch for a few hours to chat.
Ann’s daughter, now Beverly Spondike of Spanish Fort, Alabama, remained a life-long friend.
“Ed always thought about other people,” said Spondike. “His compassion for people that he knew in his teenage years continued throughout his adult life. He would take time to check on them because he cared. He loved to talk and share memories.”
Spondike remembers Zitnik visiting her house, which was about 1 1/2 miles from his home in Hubbard.
“He’d call to ask if he could visit. By the time I put the phone down and got ready, it wasn’t long before I’d hear a knock at the door.”
Because Zitnik’s parents set a curfew, Beverly said that Ed would accurately allow enough minutes between his departure from her house to his arrival home upon return.
“He had it to a science,” she said, “but I think it was a challenge to him.”
Because Zitnik attended Ursuline High School, he’d wait for a bus to pick him up in front of Hubbard High, where Beverly was a student.
While waiting for the bus, Zitnik would find Beverly’s locker which was near the pick-up area for Ursuline students.
“He’d come inside and wait by my locker every morning,” Spondike said. “Some people thought he was a student at Hubbard. When we graduated, they couldn’t believe that he wasn’t in our class.”
Beverly, who is visiting her mother for the holidays, attended Zitnik’s wake at Kelley-Robb Funeral Home in Hubbard last week.
She and her husband, Nick, were amazed at the length of the line waiting to enter.
“It was backed up half a block,” Nick Spondike said of a long line standing in the rain Friday evening. “There was a ton of young kids. It’s a testament to how much he did for the young people.”
Nick Spondike, originally from Sharon, Pa., was later club pro at The Sharon Club in Sharon Center, O.
Beverly Spondike said women in front of her in line were talking about leaving an empty seat for Ed at their next banquet in honor of Zitnik, who regularly attended their functions.
Beverly is now an assistant principal at Spanish Fort High School.
Sue Simion, secretary of the Good Times league at Bell-Wick, was saddened by the news of Zitnik’s passing.
“His right hand lady, ‘Kandy’ [Budd] is trying to keep things together. He was the life of Bell-Wick. He will surely be missed. Kandy hit it on the head when she called him the ‘Ambassador of Bowling.’ His kids were his life, always talking about them.”
bassetti@vindy.com