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John Zucco Obituary
John
Joseph Zucco
Tempe John Joseph Zucco, 92, of Tempe was born in Boston, MA, the second son of Rocco and Felicia Zucco. On February 24, 2018, John began his transition to be with his beloved wife Ruthiebell, whom he married in 1949 (66 years married), and loved ones who preceded him. He leaves behind his 5 children, Darcy, Tamara (Jackson), Perryn, Rocky, Corey Zucco, his sister-in-law Susan de Generes, son-in-law Steve Jackson, 4 granddaughters, Erin (Kyle), Lisa, Kristy and Lauren, 1 grandson Trenton and great grandson Breckin. John was an outstanding athlete winning State Championships in Ice Hockey and Football. He enlisted in the Marines during WWII, stationed aboard the U.S.S. Alaska (CB1) in the Pacific. After the war, John was recruited to play football at Arizona State where he was Captain and lettered all 4 years. John received his Masters in Education, first teaching in Bagdad, AZ for 2 years while coaching their football team to its first State Championship. In 1953, John began teaching and coaching football at Tempe High School, winning the 1956 State Football Championship along with State Championships in Track and Field Events. After having spent a few years at Marcos de Niza, he retired from Tempe High in 1983. John continued to enjoy high school sports and was honored to have the Tempe Relays track meet named after Coach Wynn and himself. John was so incredibly beloved and admired by his students and peers.
A Memorial Service will be held Friday March 2, 10:30am at Christ the King Church, 1551 E. Dana Avenue, Mesa, AZ 85204. Burial service will follow at 1:30pm at National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona, 23029 Cave Creek Road
Phoenix, AZ 85024.
There will be a celebration of John's life Saturday March 3, open house 1-4pm at Shalimar Country Club, 2032 E. Golf Avenue, Tempe, AZ 85282.
https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/high-school/2018/02/28/former-football-track-coach-bagdad-tempe-high-schools-john-zucco-left-lasting-high-school-coaching-l/382961002/Tempe John Joseph Zucco, 92, of Tempe was born in Boston, MA, the second son of Rocco and Felicia Zucco. On February 24, 2018, John began his transition to be with his beloved wife Ruthiebell, whom he married in 1949 (66 years married), and loved ones who preceded him. He leaves behind his 5 children, Darcy, Tamara (Jackson), Perryn, Rocky, Corey Zucco, his sister-in-law Susan de Generes, son-in-law Steve Jackson, 4 granddaughters, Erin (Kyle), Lisa, Kristy and Lauren, 1 grandson Trenton and great grandson Breckin. John was an outstanding athlete winning State Championships in Ice Hockey and Football. He enlisted in the Marines during WWII, stationed aboard the U.S.S. Alaska (CB1) in the Pacific. After the war, John was recruited to play football at Arizona State where he was Captain and lettered all 4 years. John received his Masters in Education, first teaching in Bagdad, AZ for 2 years while coaching their football team to its first State Championship. In 1953, John began teaching and coaching football at Tempe High School, winning the 1956 State Football Championship along with State Championships in Track and Field Events. After having spent a few years at Marcos de Niza, he retired from Tempe High in 1983. John continued to enjoy high school sports and was honored to have the Tempe Relays track meet named after Coach Wynn and himself. John was so incredibly beloved and admired by his students and peers.
A Memorial Service will be held Friday March 2, 10:30am at Christ the King Church, 1551 E. Dana Avenue, Mesa, AZ 85204. Burial service will follow at 1:30pm at National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona, 23029 Cave Creek Road
Phoenix, AZ 85024.
There will be a celebration of John's life Saturday March 3, open house 1-4pm at Shalimar Country Club, 2032 E. Golf Avenue, Tempe, AZ 85282.
News that John Zucco died on Saturday at the age of 92 hit Frank Castro pretty hard.
Not long into a conversation about his 1952 six-man state championship Bagdad High football team – with Zucco coaching and Castro at defensive end – Castro has trouble keeping his composure, breaking down in tears.
Over the next few decades, if they'd run into each other in Tempe, they'd hug and move on, not many words exchanged. But they never needed long conversations to catch up. They were connected by that magical '52 season.
"I was the only Mexican on the team," said Castro, who would later become the head football coach at Tempe Marcos de Niza. "It didn't make a damn bit of difference to him. If you weighed only 130 pounds and you had to go up against much bigger guys, it didn't matter to him, as long as you played hard.
"He never yelled at a kid. He never hurt a kid. But you could tell when things were not the way he wanted it to be. He'd give you that look."
A memorial service for Zucco will be held Friday at 10:30 a.m. at Christ the King Church in Mesa. His burial will be at 1:30 p.m. at National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona.
A celebration of his life will be held Saturday, from 1 to 4 p.m., at Shalimar Country Club.
Zucco coached Tempe High to a 10-0 mythical state championship in 1956, before the Arizona Interscholastic Association started a playoff format. He also coached Tempe High to track-and-field titles. He retired in 1983.
He was current AIA Executive Director David Hines' track coach at Tempe in the 1970s.
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"A great human being, who pushed you as an athlete to be your best, while respecting the sport and doing things the right way," Hines said. "I had great respect for the man."
Zucco got his first coaching job at Bagdad, a year after he was team captain of the 1950 Arizona State football team that went 9-2 in Ed Doherty's last season as coach. Zucco played offensive guard as those Sun Devils scored 404 points and played in the Salad Bowl.