Abel Zander

Abel Stephen Zander passed away supported by loving family on July 6, 2020, at his home in Tucson, Arizona. Abel was born in Valencia, California, and grew up in the Chicago suburbs. He graduated from Crystal Lake Central High School and McHenry County College and attended Winona State University. Abel studied with Chicago's Second City, trained as a stunt man, and explored independent filmmaking in New York before graduating from the University of Arizona in Tucson. Through his pursuits he developed a remarkable work ethic, excelling whether as a baseball catcher, a soccer striker, an indie film actor, or a webmaster. He exercised his passion for excellence with a wry humor and team spirit that rallied those around him, making people better for having known him. He is remembered for his UA contributions, earning summa cum laude degrees in the Arabic program and the Animal Sciences Race Track Industry Program (RTIP). Abel was honored with RTIP's 2019 Distinguished Student award-all while mounting a determined offensive against stage IV metastatic cancer. His wit and goodness will be missed among his family, friends, US colleagues, and international gamers. Abel was preceded in death by his grandparents Jack and Gerry Pierce and Patricia Zander; his aunt Jean Zander; and his cousin Joseph Costello. He is survived by his grandfather Richard Zander. Abel is beloved to his parents Joe and Kathy Zander and his siblings Hannah (Ray Ryan) Zander, Naomi (Zachary) Doboze, Ben Zander, Debi (Dan) Mueller, and Luke Zander; his aunts and uncles Greg and Sharon Pierce, Dave and Diane Johnson, Tim Zander, Mary and Paul Polacek, Lynn Zander, Leonard and Kathy Zander, Boyd and Marjie Zander, and Brian Zander; his nephews Seth, Liam, and Quinn Doboze; and his cousins Jessie (James) Sulahian, Sandy (Chris) Biewer, Pierce Johnson, Sarah (Michael) Plahn, Virginia (Kipp) Sobieski, Matthew (Kara) Zander, Leilani Polacek, and Andrew Zander; and second cousins Linden Biewer and Alexander Sulahian. A special thanks to Greg and Sharon Pierce and Dave and Diane Johnson for their financial support of Abel during his final year at the University of Arizona. Their generosity helped Abel undertake an internship and complete his studies while keeping up intensive cancer treatments.