Richard W & Zorita (Zevely) Simunek Obit

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Richard W & Zorita (Zevely) Simunek
Tombstone Photo
Calvary Cemetery
Hennessey, Kingfisher County, Oklahoma

© W Carlile

Oct 18, 1946 - Mar 30, 2012
Obit for Zorita submitted by Jo Aguirre

Funeral service for Zorita Zevely Simunek, 65, of Miami Beach, Fla., will be 10 a.m. Wednesday, April 4, 2012, at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Hennessey. Rev. Joseph Arledge will conduct the funeral mass.

Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery of Hennessey. Visitation 5-7 p.m. today, April 3, 2012, at Cordry-Gritz Funeral Home, Hennessey. Donations to American Cancer Society in lieu of flowers are requested. Pall Bearers are John Craun, Wilfred Janky, Larry Simunek, James Macy, Jacob Frost and Tommy Bohnstedt. Zorita was born Oct. 18, 1946, in Bowie, Texas, to Quay V. and Anita Hill Zevely Sr. She died at her home on Friday, March 30, 2012, surrounded by adoring friends and her loving husband of 45 years.

Zorita was tragically diagnosed with ovarian cancer on Feb. 21, 2012, and passed away 38 days later.

Her father sold and serviced oil well pumps throughout Oklahoma before the family moved to Hennessey in 1963. Zorita was a twirler with the Hennessey High School band, band president, basketball cheerleader and a member of the student council. She was football queen in 1964. Two five-year-old children carried the crown, Melinda Pollard and Bert Gritz, current owner and director of the Cordry-Gritz Funeral Home. In a way, it might be said that Bert escorted Zorita onto the stage of life and will now escort her off the stage of life. Zorita graduated from Hennessey High School in 1964. She received her B.S. in art education from Oklahoma State University in 1968 and her MFA in graphics art from Washington State University in 1971. Zorita was featured twirling her chrome-plated machete knives with the Oklahoma State University Marching Band at the Cowboy football games. She financed her college education at Oklahoma State University in part by twirling her machete knives for student entertainers. She taught freehand drawing in the architecture department at Washington State University and also held a teaching assistantship in the fine arts department. Zorita married Richard W. Simunek, also a 1964 Hennessey High School graduate, on Nov. 19, 1966. In 1971, Zorita and her husband moved to Washington, D.C.

Zorita worked as a graphics artist for the Transportation Institute and the U.S. Postal Service. She also accompanied her husband on two foreign assignments with the U.S. Agency for International Development in Ethiopia and Liberia. Following their return from overseas, Zorita and her husband became real estate agents in Washington, where she also renovated and restored old run-down and abandoned Victorian townhouses in the Dupont Circle, near the White House and Capitol Hill area, next to the Capitol Building. Zorita, with her husband and team members, continually ranked among the top selling agents in Washington. Two homes, renovated and lived in by Zorita, were featured on the Capitol Hill House Tour and Washington Times newspaper. Zorita was a real estate agent for 28 years in Washington. She was a member of the Greater Washington Capitol Area Association of Realtors and the Capitol Hill Restoration Society.

After 38 years in Washington, D.C., Zorita and her husband moved to the South Beach neighborhood in the city of Miami Beach, Fla. Following a cooking passion inherited from her mother, Zorita completed the Cordon Bleu Chef School in Miami, Fla., and then started her own catering business. Zorita will always be fondly remembered for her spunk, sense of humor, creative art, real estate skills, gourmet meals and grand parties. Her ability to put all and anyone at ease and to bring everyone into her world of fun, friendship and trust will never be forgotten. She was a unique combination of spontaneity and superb business organization skills. We will miss her so.

A memorial service will be held later in Miami Beach, Fla., and Washington, D.C., by her many friends and colleagues.

Surviving are her husband, Richard W. Simunek; brother, Quay V. Zevely Jr. and wife Robbie of Sulfur, Okla.; brother-in-law, David Simunek and wife Sandra Gabriel Simunek of Hennessey, Okla.; and five wonderful nieces and their children. Zorita’s husband made a small walnut jewelry box for Zorita in his high school shop class and carved a poem inside the lid.

The poem is titled “The Coin,” by Sara Teasdale.
Into my heart’s treasury,
I slipped a coin.
That time cannot take,
Nor a thief purloin.
O better than the minting,
Of a gold crowned king.
Is the safe kept memory,
Of a lovely thing.

(Submitted by family)

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