Zark0 again.

My brother Matthew is the guy in the green shirt goofing for the camera in the front row.

Zark0 mugging in the back row. As usual.

Zark0 was a counsellor here for a couple of years. I had him as my cabin counsellor in McKeeby's very first year. And although he was only a couple of years older than me, I still thought he was a pretty cool dude.

I remember one time when Zark0 had gone home during the break between weeks, he came back with his motorcycle, and gave me a ride on the back. (My first and last time, I think.)

He did have a very infectious energy, and I have fond memories of him.

I was pleased when I read in 2000 that he had such success in Silicon Valley, and had made the big score, cashing in when he sold his company. And it looks like he had a lot of fun times traveling, sailing, driving hot cars and spending time with his family and friends.

Still, I guess depression can get the best of us, and maybe, like the late Robin Williams, the most enthusiastic and energetic folks may be the ones for whom the black dogs of depression are the hardest to shake off.

My condolences go to Zark0's family and friends.

Back in high school (TISS), some 30 years ago I had a friend and his name was Zarko. A tall, thin boy with a huge smile and a kind way about him. So full of life and energetic. He was smart, ambitious, and curious as I remember and a friend to many. His lab notes in chemistry class helped me on more than one occasion! 
Our time in high school came to an end and we went our separate ways out into the world. Over the years when I've thought of those high school days, I'd remember Zarko with fondness and memories that brought a smile to my face. 
In reading all of these beautiful tributes here it's plain to see that in his all-too-short-life he touched many people with those very same qualities that I remember.
I have been so saddened to hear of his passing. To his family and friends, my deepest sympathies for your terrible loss. Zarko, rest in peace.  Kathy Uniacke (Edgley)

I wanted to offer a different perspective to everyone of Zarko that has little to do with his professional and entrepreneurial success... 
 
Zarko and I were best friends growing up.  Our fathers worked together at DuPont's Maitland, ON facility. 
 
We lived 5 houses apart on Borden Crescent in Brockville and our families bought cottages 2 lots apart on Bass Lake in eastern Ontario where we did all the typical boyhood things together.   We met in St. Mary's Elementary school at about age 10.  Zarko used to accompany me on my paper delivery route each day after school.  We had countless nicknames for each other, but the one that I have greatest fondness for came about the day I told him my given names were Graham Paul, which Zarko shortened to Grampa and ultimately morphed to 'Grandfather'. 
 
Until our last communication, he continued to call me that, with a tongue in cheek reference to the fact that he was the younger of us.  We spent virtually every day together throughout our formative years.  In fact, I realize only now how much Zarko influenced who I have ultimately become.  I can only hope he would have said the same of me. 
 
I graduated from Thousand Islands Secondary a year before him.  I strongly believe it was my stories about Waterloo engineering as we caught up over holidays in the year between that influenced his decision to go to Systems Design.  However, it was clear many years before that Zarko had the inherent curiosity and spirit of discovery that made engineering an almost inevitable pursuit.  Here are a few snapshots: 
 
While I thought my Kodak instamatic camera made me an avid photographer, Zarko bought all the tools and materials/chemicals to transform the basement bathroom of his house into a darkroom.  We spent many hours rehearsing and memorizing the locations of each item before turning out the lights and developing entire films in absolute darkness. 
 
While I showed of my flimsy new balsa wood glider, Zarko created a whole workshop in his basement where he built every manner of motorized airplanes and rockets which we spent many afternoons retrieving from the roofs of our local school and neighbours houses.
 
While I proudly demonstrated my canoe paddling prowess at the lake, Zarko joined the local sailing club, graduating from a Laser to a Sunfish and ultimately a 420 2 man sailboat which he would take me racing on Thursday nights through the Thousand Islands against much larger and faster boats. 
 
While I demonstrated the transistor kit radio that my brother assembled, Zarko used his electronics and mechanical wizardry to turn the post of his top bunk bed into a command centre from which he could remotely open and close his door and curtains as well as the lights and stereo. 
 
While I clumsily tried to make sense of our Sinclair ZX81 computer, I watched in wonder as Zarko seemed to effortlessly and confidently cross the threshold to a technology enabled world programming his Tandy computer to do things previously unimagined to me. 
 
While I thought my collection of Archie comic books represented a true appreciation for comedy, we spent many hours in his bedroom memorizing the comedy routines of Monty Python, George Carlin and Cheech & Chong.  I can still repeat the vast majority of these word for word today. 
 
While I simply got by with a lame last minute science fair project demonstrating buoyancy principles, Zarko assembled the most amazing collection of materials science experiments.  I vividly recall the flamethrower made from a can of WD40 and the day we spent an hour trying to pick up little bubbles of liquid mercury with our bare hands. 
 
While I made pathetic armpit fart noises, Zarko would easily burp the entire alphabet with air to spare.  (OK, that one was perhaps not a predictor of future business success).
 
My mind simply tingles with the rush of memories that have been pushed to the back of my consciousness by the demands of career and parenthood. 
 
So Zarko essentially WAS childhood to me.  And now he's gone.  I feel an immense sense of loss.  While it's been a few years since corresponding, I've always felt that he was never more than a phone call or LinkedIn message away.  I would often stalk his web site to feel a weird and voyeuristic connection to the past.
 
As you all know, Zarko was always a wonderful, funny, energetic and larger than life personality who gave others much more than he expected in return. 
 
Thank you Zarko for your friendship.  Rest in peace my friend! 
 
Grandfather 

I just learned of Zarko's passing and I'm so saddened.

  Zarko was my first puppy love.  He was so bright and thoughtful and funny, enthusiastic and sweet.  Skinny young guy in the math club with a huge smile in brown sweaters who loved ice cream.  He and my dad both had apple ii+ computers and sailboats.  He used to bicycle miles to my parents house to bring me solutions to my math homework.  I was so lucky to meet such a special & amazing person.

My heart goes out to Zarko's family and friends.

Some pics of Zarko in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire West Africa...
He loved this statue of The Thinker - quite an appropriate picture of the 2 of them!
He was also so pleased to hold the Olympic Torch that Louis Guirandou-N'Diaye had in his office! He celebrated with us the traditional West African wedding of Patricia and Jean Marc. Memorable trip indeed!

Thirty years ago I fell in love for the first time.  He was unlike the other boys, so smart and wide-eyed, beaming with ambition and curiosity and not afraid to share his feelings and worries, write poetry and be 'uncool' in his words. 
We shared many firsts. Among them his first lime green Laser sailboat and a love of sailing together in the BYC's tubby but fun 420's.  His first motorbike, far from a Ducati but he travelled to computer camp 4 hours each way on that bike, once a surprise trip to see me, but unaware he was coming I was away on my parents sailboat for the weekend.  Even electronic messaging before email was email, he set it up between his beloved Apple and my father's computer, loving to message that way instead of picking up the phone,  Speaking of phones, his quirky techno- gadget persona had me laughing as one day he pulled up to the house in his brown VW rabbit, idling as I came out to greet him he motioned to the middle of the car and picked up a black, corded phone receiver to answer a call.  On further investigation it merely was just that, cord and receiver only, attached to the emergency brake handle, always trying to impress.
Oh Zarko, the intellect of one much older and wiser combined with the playful youth and often naivety of a young boy. We learned and shared much about each other as we became young adults.  After university he visited me in Mexico, and I drove with him to Cupertino as he stepped into the next chapter of his life. Both of us strong independant spirits we had separate agendas and alas our love faded away, never bitter or scorned just distanced.
Naturally I thought about Zarko often over the past 3 decades, astounded to hear about the sale of his company and so pleased to learn of his marriage and children.
This tragic news just came to me from my brother.  I had to gather my thoughts for a day. Our entire family loved Zarko and will remember him fondly as he truly was remarkable and unforgettable.
To all the Draganics, to Nellie and family, I am deeply sorry for your loss.
The sun will shine again. May peace be with you.

    

Piki and Micho, lifetime friends, first met Nellie in Monterriggioni.

So shocked and so, so sad to hear you are no longer with us, Zarko.

Back in Brockville, when we first met I only knew you as Robin’s little brother “Jackie”.  Our friendship really began at the University of Waterloo. Even as a student, you had your sights set high. The next thing I knew you were working for Apple in Silicon Valley … your dream-come-true at the time. We often got together when I was in California on business and it was interesting to watch how quickly your career continued to rise yet you always stayed the same old, lovable Zarko. Down-to-earth, witty, energetic, thoughtful, good-spirited, curious, encouraging, inclusive, humble, unguarded, worldly, and above all, playful. You always had the latest gadgets. I remember visiting your place in Menlo Park back in the 90’s. You pulled out your electric scooter and your remote controlled cars for a little fun in the driveway. The next thing you know you had the RC cars racing down the street faster than the real cars! The neighborhood kids all wanted to be like you. Me too! And I always admired your sense of cool. I recall you used to raise the Canadian flag at your place just to greet me whenever I visited.

We shared an appreciation of fine cars, especially sports cars, and you were always so amazingly generous to let me sample whatever happened to be gracing your garage. I remember the first time I met Nellie, before you were married. The three of us were going to get together for dinner at a local restaurant. What made this meeting more memorable for me, was that you decided to pull a little prank, with the help of Nellie. You and I had originally arranged to meet at your place in the city but on my way there you said something had come up and you had to head out quickly to take care of it. You called me to let me know that I could occupy my time by taking your latest automotive acquisition out for a spin. You proceed to give me the code to your garage door but you wouldn’t tell me what was waiting inside. As the garage door slowly ascended it was like opening a present on Christmas morning. There sat your brand new, just released top-of-the-line jet black BMW roadster with a mere 65 miles on the odometer. I entered the garage, closed the door and just stood there drooling. A few minutes later I heard the door from the house opening and expected you to walk in. But instead in walked a tall, slender blond woman I had never seen before. I figured this must be your girlfriend but I also figured that my presence in the garage must look like I am an intruder about to steal your car! My heart was racing as I started to stammer out a hurried explanation of who I was and what I was doing there, when Nellie interrupted me to tell me not to worry. She knew who I was and that you had sent her over to bring me to the restaurant. Punk’d! I asked her what she thought of your new car and she simply jumped in the passenger seat and said, “Let’s find out.” I definitely like her style.

And who could forget Saturday October 7, 2000. Well, maybe most people can, but certainly not me. That was the day you threw me a set of car keys and said, “Let’s go for a spin in the mountains. I am going to take my Ducati so just follow me in my Ferrari.” I couldn’t believe it. I don’t even think I had touched a Ferrari before and now you were going to let me drive yours?!?!? By myself?!?! It was a day to remember for sure. You couldn’t slap the smile off my face. That was *my* dream-come-true. I regret that I don’t think I ever actually told you that.

Zarko, your selfless generosity was only outshone by the effortless and gracious manner in which you delivered it. Classy all the way. You had an interest in so many things, all of which you seemed to pursue … and execute impressively well! A real renaissance man. I remember the person doing the toast to the bride at your wedding saying that after hearing a description of you they thought you must be a superhero. It certainly seemed that way. To borrow a phrase from another language, as you so often liked to do, I hope your ever present joie-de-vivre will continue to inspire all those who were lucky enough to have known you.

 NO JOB TOO SMALL

 It was my first week at Marin Montessori School and my focus was on getting my office set up, organized, and looking attractive. After a shopping excursion to all the local discount stores I came back with the perfect little tables to complete the sitting area.  Zarko came by, stopped in to see how things were going, and offered a few encouraging words. I proudly showed him the tables which I had acquired at a greatly reduced price because they each had little scratches on one side.  He expressed admiration for the bargain price, looked at the scratches, and speculated on how they could be covered. When I left for the day the two little tables had disappeared, but I didn’t have time to worry about where they had gone. The next day there they were, back in their places, but with the scratches artfully covered. Made my inquiries and, yes, Zarko had taken them home and fixed them up.

 NO LAUGH TOO BIG

 The MMS Coffeehouse had been a success, with an incredibly amusing and skillful performance of something called “Toast” by one of the students. As I was leaving, walking down the covered walkway, I could hear behind me hearty laughs from two voices that were singing this fun song. They caught up with me, and it was Sam and Zarko, arms intertwined, laughing so hard they had tears in their eyes, as they sang the silly lyrics.

Laughing and helping. Joy and compassion. That's the Zarko I remember, who enriched my life and so many others.
  

Zarko invited Khris, James and I over for a guys day/night out on the 4th of July. We didn't really know how to boat launch the kite and the first attempt ended when the kite lines went into the prop.

Zarko was not about to give up - we landed at Angel Island and launched from the dock (not recommended, BTW). The wind was light, so once we got on the water we slowly drifted down Raccoon Straight while Zarko chased us in the boat. He really wanted James to hand me a beer as I jumped past - in the video you can see the attempt.

We had a great time on the water and Zarko cooked up a fabulous dinner. We flew the drone around Bellvedere that night and could hear neighbors talking wondering what the UFO was. After dinner, we went back on the water to watch the fireworks. 

Zarko made every minute of that July 4th so much fun, I'm glad we got some of it on video to share.

I met Zarko at the Canada Wide Science Fair in Saskatoon (1983). We became best buddies for the week of CWSF, despite my very tentative English back then. He was famous for signing his name with a slash on the "o", making it a digital zero. I got a gold medal, and I think he cleaned up even better than me.

For a few years, we had the regular shipments of computer disks going between Brockville and Quebec City, sending each other our best hacks.

We have never seen each other since the science fair days, but Zarko has remained in my thoughts as a very special person ever since our teenage years. What a surreal experience that a search to see what he is becoming directs me to this memorial, just a few days after his passing. Some things can't be explained in life.

My thoughts are with his family.

Martin d'Amours
Montreal, QC 

Zarko was such a positive, keen and coachable kid at the BYC sailing school. Everyone wanted to sail with him in the 420, he was such a good trapeze crew the club had to start the "best crew" award. Now we call it multi-tasking, but it was first "Being Zarko". He won many 420 regatta's, including the Quebec and Ontario championships. He loved optimizing his boat, when his boats started to have lots of electronics he really came into his element. He said during a San Fran Big Boat Series in the mid 90's that cell phones can do so much more, he is looking into it.

Zarko will be missed, such a loss, terribly sorry.     

Zarko was learning how to sail at BYC (Brockville Yacht Club) New kid on the block new family in town. Zarko shows up for sailing school wearing these really cool, shiney green boots...a new trend in the yachting world, and he taught us how to say green boots in Croatian, I still say it to who ever I meet from that part of the world. Okay, it was a million years ago...and nice to know that my young brother Hank and Zarko became friends forever. Thus everytime I saw him my salutation was "zelena chisme"

I haven't seen Zarko for decades, but often, when I'm really enjoying food with my family, I will make "Zarko-inspired" noises, while relishing my food: "MMMMMMMMMMhhh" (x100).

We worked together at a overnight computer camp the summer the summer we were 16 and 17. I was teaching swimming and "Logo", while he was teaching sailing and Logo.  He loved the French Canadian food, oozing with fat and sugar, and I don't think a meal went past when he didn't make guttural noises through-out the meal.  We used to talk, late in the night, us both being teen-agers trying to figure out the world.  

We then spent our years at Waterloo in the same class and program.

My thoughts go out to his family, I can only imagine.

I remember Zarko dropping by my office opening party with our mutual friend Paul Mercer. We felt so young back then (early 1997) and the future looked so bright. Zarko was driving his brand new convertible that we had never seen before (a Porsche Boxter, which had just started shipping a few months earlier). We decided to take it for a spin along Sand Hill Road, on the West side of 280 where there was no traffic and plenty of windy roads. I remember the wind blowing our hair and being amazed by the handling. He stopped the car at one point and wanted me to drive it back. Typical Zarko. A very generous soul. He wanted to share the full experience. It's hard to beleive that was 17 years ago. He lived life to the fullest. I wish I had seen him more often over the years. I always assumed there would be more time. This is just very hard to believe because we were exchanging emails less than a week ago. He was again very generous and made a kind introduction for me within 24 hours of my request. He touched so many lives. He was such a positive force. I'm so very sorry for all of his friends and loved ones. He will be missed by more people than you will know. 

Zarko and I took up rowing together two years ago. We had known each other slightly over the years and I really admired him and hsi family whom we met in Florence.

Zarko was generous with time and advice as we all know. I first saw this when he came to a flat we were renting in Florence and wired up a 15h century palazzo with WIFI. He seemed even happier than we were when it worked but not nearly as amazed.

What I did not know at first is that he was courageous and could make me braver than I thought likely. We had rowed several times together in calm waters and favorable tides. Then one day we headed out into an ebb and a rising wind. For some reason we decided this was the day to round Angel Island. All went well until we approached Point Blunt and a standing wave that looked 2o feet high (it was probably  3 or 4 feet). I said we should consider turning aroundl. Zarko said it was a day for seamanship so around we went, fighting wind and the wave. "Short strokes,short strokes" he intoned as water broke over the bow and the rocks seemed to grow. We got back to SFYC wet, tired and proud of ourselves. There were never enough days with Zarko on the water whether pounding a pace in the calm water or learning seamanship.

I will desperately miss my rowing buddy and office mate in the Batcave on Main Street, which we shared all too briefly last year. Ganesha's crew was looking forward to another season of sailing with our dear friend and patient teacher.

Ellen and I have Nellie, Sam and Vivi in our thoughts. we already miss Zarko enormously, especially when we are faced with a need for courage and seamanship when navigating the rough waters of life. 

We were in Sorrento Italy celebrating Zem's 40th birthday, Zarko and Nellie was the most grogeous couple as you can see from these photos. We had so much fun nd fond memories! Zarko always has a great smile on his face.

Check out the date-stamp. Zarko was transmitting himself naked in the shower via cloud computing earlier that just about anybody.