William Danny Zendner

Farewell, Good Sir ~ by Travis Krepelka

It’s been said that a life is made up of a great number of small moments, and a small number of Great ones. One of Will Zendner’s exceptional, enduring gifts was that, when you were with him, even the smallest moments were Great ones. Now we face the impossible task of summarizing a life lived so very, very well, and ended far, far, far too soon. No amount of words could do Will credit. I will write a few down here, and say and write many more over the years to come, but I offer a suggestion – to myself and to the hundreds of people Will touched so meaningfully. The only way we could begin to honor and credit his life is to live our own better, in some of the ways he showed us how to do throughout his.

William Danny Zendner was born on July 10, 1981 in Grass Valley, California, to Dan and Carol, and did his growing up in Colfax. He died without warning and without explanation on Friday morning, March 29, 2024. Will lived a passionate life and his last week was typical of his active lifestyle. He ran in the Pacific Northwest Forest with Amber, played with his silly cat, Legedu, swam, biked, and lived just as he always did – healthy, happy, and thrilled with life.

He spent an idyllic childhood roaming the woods with his sisters, building forts, tree swings, riding motorcycles, snow skiing and spending summer days at the lake. He spent his high school days at Pine Hills Junior Academy and at Sacramento Adventist Academy, where he met a friend for life in Amber. Dreaming of being a pilot since he was very young (probably around the time Top Gun came out, some reader can check my math), he attended the prestigious Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Arizona.

Another of Will’s gifts was that he was hands-down one the smartest, most well-studied, thoughtful, interested people any of us will ever know – and never flaunted it. He was forever fascinated by the world and the people in it, and he went out into it, and all over it, as much as he could, to try and figure it out. He is survived by his wife Amber (Best Friend, Playmate, and Favorite Person), parents Dan and Carol, sisters Kristel and Cat, and his cat friend who was there at the end, Legedu. And by his extended family on all sides and in every direction. And his colleagues. And his friends, and his teammates. And all the passengers who never met him whom he piloted comfortably, perfectly, to safety. He is survived by too many to count. He leaves us to try to figure out a world, as he always did, now made so much more complicated because it includes something so wretchedly unfair as Will gone so young, and not here to help explain it to us.

I never had better conversations than those with Will in them. I never laughed harder, ever, than some late nights with Will and his sisters. When I said dumb things, Will never judged and never made me feel dumb. When I was scared to try new things, Will would get right out there with me and guide me through it. He made a person feel physically and emotionally safe. He made a person feel heard and respected. He made sure to study and understand numerous sides of any issue, never leaping to judgment or conclusions. He was balanced – practical and pragmatic, but passionate about the world around him at the same time. He was also a world-class athlete, not just in his glory days. On the morning he died, he was the healthiest person most of us know. A gifted athlete, played every sport there was and made up sports when he had to, good at anything he tried, which in the last years had been triathlons (go try even a baby one of those, the rest of us!). He was witty and observant. He was an absolutely pro’s pro of a pilot for Delta, the kind of pilot every other pilot should strive to be, and that was noticed and accoladed by his peers.

So many accolades. Anyone reading will have more. So here’s a small criticism. If Will started telling a story, kick your shoes off and pop some popcorn, because his brain apparently remembered every. little. thing. about it. and he would have to backtrack and sidetrack and rewind and foreshadow and tell who said what to whom (exact words, mind you), and what they were wearing while they said it, and then that would remind him of further context and before you knew it you had no idea or care where the story had originally been going, you just enjoyed being with Will.

I loved him. I think I told him that, in the way friends and brothers-in-law may sometimes do, and I am confident that he knew. I also really, really looked up to him in so many ways and for so many reasons, but me being a few months older, and married to his older sister, I cannot be sure I ever told him that. I certainly hope he knew, and I will try to be better in the future, Will, I promise, to tell people things like that.

If people are remembered by how they make others feel, Will’s memory will be long-reaching and never fade. He truly was the best of us. No one could ask for a better husband, son, brother, or friend. Let us all try to live our lives more Will-fully. Get out there and travel. Go somewhere new. Read about something new. Meet someone new and listen to them. Will never preached or lectured any of this. He just showed us all how to do it, every day, and in every single one of those small, Great moments