John Zika

Activity Feed
Profile

John Zika left a comment for Joe & Carol Ricciardi

"Joe and Carol,

God bless you --- I know that you may not check this inbox very often (and I actually don't either!), but I wanted to say hi and extend our family's regards. Thanks for the
Friend Request. It is a joy to be associated with you and…"

John Zika left a comment for Michael Novak

"Mike,

God bless you richly. We pray for you and your family in our family fellowship. Thanks so much for saying "Hello". Derek (21) and Isaac (20) are out on their own in Oregon and Ohio respectively. Daniel (15) is homeschooled and Abigail (12)…"

John Zika left a comment for John and Cece Daly

"God bless you, John and Cece!

We are greatly thankful for your lives. We trust all is well with you. We hold many sweet memories of what you have done to help us over the years. (And I actually still wear a down vest which John gave me about 20…"

John Zika left a comment for Joe & Carol Ricciardi

"Joe and Carol,

God bless you mightily in Jesus Christ's wonderful name.

I tried to send you a message a few weeks ago, but ended up just sending a message to myself. I don't know how I did this, but oh well.

Thanks for communicating. We are…"

John Zika left a comment for John Zika

"Thanks, Joe. Please let us know how you are doing, how your kids are coming along, and any other pertinent items. It is great to hear from you.

All of God's best to you and Carol each day!

In Christ's love,

John"

John Zika left a comment for Lynn Schraudenbach Grove

"Lynn,

God bless you!

Thanks for your email. I'm pretty sure that Will is the one who took the picture on this site! This is one of our favorite pictures of our family --- staged and shot by Will!

We are planning on being at camp in August.…"

John Zika left a comment for Patti Bass

"Patti,

God bless you!

I saw your message on Lynn Grove's email contacts and wanted to just say Hi. You are in my thoughts on a fairly regular basis. The impact you had on my life is significant. It is great that you are happy and so in love with…"

John Zika left a comment for Billy Williams

"Billy,

I honestly did not remember the performance at ROA 1989. The hymns that we performed which are most pronounced in my memory are "Thessalonica", the "Hallelujah Chorus" done at the Way C of E, and "Psalm 103 --- Bless the Lord, Oh My Soul..."…"

John Zika left a comment for Joe & Carol Ricciardi

"Hello, Joe and Carol!

God's blessings on you and your family!

I've been on this site for about 2 weeks now. Thankfully I saw your picture on the "Friends" of Jeff Schmidt.

You look wonderful and we are grateful to God that you are prospering and…"

John Zika left a comment for Janis Lang Johnson

"Janis,

I have heard that there is actually a Web site where the Anderson Library dome is posted in a photo, showing the signatures which many individuals left there. I'll need to find that. Good for you, though, to have that mentality not to write…"

John Zika left a comment for dick michaud

"Dick,

I would have to do some research about home prices to answer your question. It's been a long time (about 9.5 years) since we did our house hunting here, and at that time we put all of one day into finding this house. Our home has about 1650…"

John Zika left a comment for Janis Lang Johnson

"Janis,

I didn't see the discussions on the library. Where were those done? Thanks for being loving and kind. I'm heading for the "Y" this morning to get some exercise. If I can go once on the weekend, and once or twice during the week, it's a good…"

John Zika left a comment for Brad and Chris Thorp

"God bless you, Brad and Chris!

Thanks for your kindness in communicating! I took the on-ramp onto this site about five days ago, and what a pleasant surprise to find out about how so many brothers and sisters are doing!

Our in-residence training…"

John Zika left a comment for Janis Lang Johnson

"Janis,

Thanks for letting us know about your move. California is quite a jaunt from Georgia.

We trust all is well with you out in the Pacific West.

All of God's best to you! Please let us know how things are going.

John"

John Zika left a comment for Billy Williams

"Billy,

Thanks for the further elucidation on our common memory exercise. I'm thankful that the lighter side of life is something you value, and that I have been able to bless you with that. At times, things seem to get heavy in my thinking, and…"

John Zika left a comment for Joseph Teodosio

"Joe,

God bless you! Thanks for your kind greeting! I am calling to Karen right now, letting her know that you said "Hey". Please let us know where you are now, and what you are up to.

Have a wonderful evening!

John"

More…

Gender

Male

Location

statesville, NC USA

Birthday:

December 26

Age:

Way Corp group(s) I was in

8th Way Corps

Where I live

We live in Statesville, NC, which is about 45 minutes north of Charlotte.

Married or Single

Married

About Me

I am in the 8th Way Corps. When I graduated in 1980, I served as the librarian of Anderson Memorial Library at the Way College of Emporia. In 1984, I met a 12th Corps member, Karen Reeder, whom I asked to marry me. So we left Emporia together in 1984, and began our marriage in Oklahoma City where we stayed for five years, until 1989. We moved to NC and have been here ever since. Karen and I have four children -- Derek (20), Isaac (18), Daniel (14) and Abigail (11).

My Interests

Still like running; tried swimming for a few years and worked up to about 60 lengths of varied strokes. (This was an accomplishment for me.) Reading for enjoyment is always fun. Playing piano is wonderful, but I don't get a lot of time to do it. Hiking is also an enjoyable activity. (I went LEAD again in 2005 by participating in Sojourn Mountaineering International -- see CICWord.com -- and was thoroughly blessed.)

Employment or Career

My work has been in public libraries since 1992, and I presently work for the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, specifically in a town called Huntersville (home of Hoyt Wilhelm, recently deceased Hall of Fame baseball player). I manage the North County Regional Library Branch, and oversee three smaller branches in the north area.

Music I Like

Most melodic classical music (e.g. Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, etc.), but not the more modern composers. Also classic rock is enjoyable, especially the Eagles.

Books I Like

Forrest Gump made me laugh out loud. Seems much better than the movie. Marine! by Burke Davis was unforgettable for me -- the courage of Chesty Puller; Good to Great, by Jim Collins -- a wonderful synopsis of qualities in companies which improved and maintained a level of enhanced success; Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court -- I read this in high school but missed most of the humor, then read it to our kids and found it really entertaining and actually timely with our own society in the 21st century.

Television I like

Evening News --- comes on at 11PM on the east coast. This is often the only television I get time for. If I can catch an occasional ball game, that can be nice. But professional sports more and more seem sort of transparent that money is running things instead of pure competition.

Movies I like

Band of Brothers -- our family has watched this series about four times. It really contains some neat things about leadership and courage. O'Henry's Full House -- a presentation of five short stories written by O'Henry, and is narrated by John Steinbeck; Shane -- one of the greatest westerns ever produced, pitting classic good vs evil.

Sports Teams I like

The Chicago anything (meaning Cubs, Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks) and Carolina Panthers. U.S. Olympic Teams were enjoyable to watch, especially some of the track relay teams, swimming teams, and beach volleyball duos.

My Email Address:

jkzika@bellsouth.net

Comment Wall

You need to be a member of Way Corps Site to add comments!

Join Way Corps Site

Comments are closed.

Comments

Janis Lang Johnson January 27, 2009 at 5:08pm

It should still be here under forums I think. Someone found pictures of the library up in the cupola? where everybody signed their names. I was taught you didn't draw on anything in a library, so I didn't. Silly what you remember, isn't it?

God has been very good to me. He is a most loving and kind God.

Exercise is a good thing. Walking the dogs does it for me, they take me for drags. : ))))

Love you bunches,
J
dick michaud January 27, 2009 at 8:50am

Hi John,

I don't know the people from Maine who went to your family camp. We live in what Mainers call the "other" Maine. I live in the most northern town in Maine.

How big is Statesville? Sue and I are looking for a town that is not too big and yet not too far from a big city (maybe one hour away). I don't like big cities, I'm a small town boy. Plus we are going to be looking at affordable housing. One nice thing about northern Maine was the cost of housing. When we moved here in 1989 you could pick up a very nice home for 60-70 grand. We picked up a fixer upper for real cheap. I suspect we will rent first and feel our way around. What's a average home cost in your area? One that's anywhere from 1200sf to 1500sf?

Up here in Northern Maine we have little to none as far as exwafers. I just found Chuck Odonnel last summer but he lives about 4.5 hours south of me. Sure was nice fellowshipping with him and Cindy his wife. N.C. seems to have a lot of 10th and 8th corps people. That's another good reason for going there. It would be good to touch base with old friends. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Dick
Kevin Nye January 26, 2009 at 8:24pm

So. You still have the old "Mowah". My good old "John Deere 48 inch wide walk behind mowah" (as I've always referred to it) still lives! So cool to hear that. Glad it has been of good service to you. You know what they say; "Nothing Runs Like A Deere". Well heck, if your neighbor'd be blessed with the dang thing, I think he deserves it! And, I do believe that John Deere makes what is called a "sulky" which is a one wheel deal with a seat which hooks to the back of the mowah and you get to ride along behind it as you mow. I never wanted to get one because I wanted the exercise that came along with the sunshine as I took care of my route. Sweatin and workin and drinkin tons of lemon water. I really loved that little business I had! But, no doubt that model has long since been improved on, and maybe something like that sulky would be hard to get a hold of. But it might be worth seeing if you can find a model number on it and check with John Deere. Our grass cutting season here is pretty short, and I make do with a cheap 21 inch mowah with a Briggs and Stratton on it. Only takes a half hour to cut this place. But it does grow back fast what with all the rain we have here and then long hours of daylight.

Well, as always, I thought of you all this morning when I made my coffee. Sure is nice to be in touch with you John. You always were a big blessing to our lives. And Karen every bit as much. Never did get to see a whole lot of your kids except when y'all came up to Greene County for a visit and to get the mowah, and now they are pretty grown up huh? Our youngest, Luke is 12 y.o now.

Well, God bless you and have a wonderful day at work tomorrow. Guess what I am doing tomorrow? Sheetrocking. Yup, still at it. Keeps me in shape. Anyway, adios and love to your Family,

Kevin
Janis Lang Johnson January 23, 2009 at 6:28pm

Isn't this fun? Did you see the discussions on the library? Since you worked there, you will get a kick out of it.

Do ya'll still have the same email address? I just looked up, it looks different. I will update.

Great to hear from you. I miss my old stomping grounds, but here is where my honey bunny is. It's different. No lightning bugs, no cardinels, blue jays look different here, azaleas are very rare, no dogwoods. Tought to get used to things like that, but I am.

Love you say hey to Karen,
Janis
Barbara Gluckin Tompary January 23, 2009 at 2:41am

You make me smile. And when it is time for me to read a good book (other than THE good book) I will look at your listing here to select from. Love you, B
Brad and Chris Thorp January 22, 2009 at 4:37pm

Dear John:
Great to see you here and to hear how you are doing. What a wonderful life and family you have. Chris and I are well and thankful to learn how so many old friends are doing from this unique site. We live in Ohio and have been blessed to build a family and life that we are both thankful and amazed at daily. We have fond memories of you and our times together in the 8th Corps. We would love to hear from you.
Best regards and much love,
Brad and Chris
Janis Lang Johnson January 22, 2009 at 5:58am

Hey John,
Been a while, in case you have missed me a large functions, I don't live in Georgia anymore. I live in California. Last time we saw each other, I believe was in Augusta at a Sangat Baines teaching.

hey to everyone.

J
Billy Williams January 21, 2009 at 7:12pm

John, the reason that little thing sticks in my mind is because it (along with a few other little things) reminds me that you know how to have fun at everything you do. I was recently recalling on this site another TWI friend whom knew at Indy before the corps who was like that (Craig Rawlins). It's not that I couldn't believe that people like you and him didn't have a serious side, but you knew how to keep it from destroying your fun side...we ALL like to have fun, but I've never been as good at that as you seemed to be.
Joseph Teodosio January 21, 2009 at 6:28pm

HI John!

So good to see you here! Give my love to Karen,,,this is so great getting back in touch with people again if just to say HI and God bless! Joseph Teo
dick michaud January 20, 2009 at 1:29pm

Hi John,
Nice to see you here. Sounds like God has been very good to you and your family. Sue and I have often talked about moving to North Carolina when I retire.
Sue doesn't care for the cold weather but I hate the hot weather of down south. Heck she's endured this place for twenty years the least I can do is endure the rest of my days in the heat. lol

of 3

This reply was deleted.

Donate

John Zika

Comment Wall

Comments

Friends (10)

Photos