In memory of

Gary Michael Zatzman

June 15, 1950 -  July 24, 2024

Gary Michael Zatzman, 74, of Halifax, Nova Scotia, passed away on July 24th, 2024 at Northwood Manor, where he received excellent care. Born in Saint John, New Brunswick, Gary was the son of Ruth (Taxar) and Charles Zatzman, both of whom predeceased him.

We are all a sum of our experiences and Gary was no different. We don’t want him to be defined by his diagnosis with dementia, later in life. He had a very rich and productive intellectual life preceding his diagnosis. Early on in his professional career, he was a mathematics teacher in Saint John, New Brunswick for a few years, then travelled around the world as a journalist, writing about various topics. He also became a self-taught expert on the law of the sea, especially as it pertained to Maritime waters. During his years as a journalist, he met and fell in love with Rhoda Shapiro, who was also a journalist, and they became very involved in the rights of disadvantaged ethnic groups globally. Rhoda predeceased him.

Later, Gary became a specialist in energy resource economics and worked as a researcher and teacher at Dalhousie University. He wrote and co-authored several books, including:
1. Sustainable Energy Pricing: Nature, Sustainable Engineering & the Science of Energy Pricing;
2. Sustainable Resource Development;
3. Intangibles in the Big Picture co-authored with Rafiqul Islam;
4. Reconstituting the Curriculum co-authored with M. Rafiq Islam and Jaan S. Islam;
5. The Greening of Pharmaceutical Engineering: Applications for Mental Disorder Treatments with M.R. Islam, J.S. Islam and G.M.Zatzman Volumes 1 & 2; and,
6. Economics of Intangibles by Gary Zatzman & Rafiqul Islam

Gary will long be remembered by classmates and friends from Saint John High School where he was a true thespian and starred in many Shakespearean plays and Gilbert and Sullivan productions. He loved the power of words, whether it was by an author or the words he chose to express ideas or ideals. He also loved languages and spoke Spanish and French fluently and also was self-taught in Russian. Gary loved the game of chess and would challenge his professors at the University of New Brunswick to play.

He leaves behind his sister, Janice Zatzman Orlansky (Michael Dean Orlansky) in Burlington, Vermont, and his brother Kenneth David Zatzman (Cheryl Landy), Toronto, along with two nieces Tamar Orlansky Weisert (Drake Weisert) and Robin Orlansky Kietlinski (Piotr Kietlinski), four grand nieces (Lily, Eva, Sophie Weisert and Nina Kietlinski) and nephew, Shimon Charles Zatzman, and grand nephew, Samuel Charles Kietlinski.

Guestbook 

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Ken Zatzman (Brother of Gary)

Entered September 18, 2024 from Toronto

Dear Family & Friends of Gary,

I am honored to post this first entry to this Memorial Guestbook for Gary Zatzman. For those who were able to attend our Celebration of Life, for Gary, held in person, on Sunday, September 15th, 2024, at the York Cemetery Funeral Centre in North York, Ontario, we hope that you found our Celebration of Life meaningful and fulfilling. My sister Jan and I were heartened by the many memories that you shared with us at the reception, following our Celebration of Life ceremony.

Please note that for those who were not able to attend our Celebration of Life, a video link will be sent out to all invitees, later this week (of September 16th). The video will display only the formal portion of the Celebration, which lasts just under 30 minutes or so. (Note: There is no video recording of the reception, which followed the Celebration ceremony. In addition, the graveside service was a private family event and was not video-recorded.)

Of course, those who attended our Celebration of Life, are also welcome to revisit our ceremony, to recollect our family's memories of Gary.

In the meantime, we welcome and encourage all of you to post your memories or other thoughts about Gary, to this online Memorial book. Please also note that our formal obituary, is posted at the beginning of this Memorial book, above, under the main "Funeral" menu option, sub-option: "Obituary".

This online Memorial book will be the Memorial book, which will be maintained, on an ongoing basis, by the Zatzman family. For example, I expect to add, in coming days, those beautiful historic photos, from our Memorial Poster for Gary, that those of you who attended the Celebration of Life, would have been able to view directly. Those photos will then be accessible on this site, via the "Photos" menu option above. An update mentioning when those photos have been posted to this site will be shown as a "**BANNER**" line, at the top of the Obituary page, so please feel free to check back here, in a few days!

As mentioned by me (Ken), at the Celebration of Life, an earlier online Memorial book was initially set up in Halifax, at tjtracey.com, where Gary Michael Zatzman's name can be searched there. The Zatzman family will be working with the TJ Tracey Funeral Home people, in Halifax, to consolidate and re-direct, those who access the tjtracey memorial page for Gary, to THIS online Memorial book, but that task may take some time to arrange. In the meantime, please only post your thoughts and memories of Gary, to THIS online Memorial book. Thank you for your kind cooperation.

And, thank you in advance for offering your kind thoughts and memories of Gary.

With warm regards,

Ken Zatzman
Brother of Gary Zatzman
E-Mail: ken.zatzman@sympatico.ca

Janice Zatzman Orlansky (Sister)

Entered September 19, 2024 from Burlington VERMONT

Gary was a very unique person, whose talents and intellect were prodigious. He was a mathematical genius, who understood the elegance and beauty of mathematics. He filled notebooks with calculations, trying to prove or disprove mathematical theories. It brought him immeasurable pleasure figuring out equations. I think that in some important ways Gary viewed the world through a mathematical prism. In his mind, often answers to complex questions were either right or wrong. He fought vigorously for the rights of Palestinians and for all oppressed people. He cared deeply and affectionately about people and was a loving and devoted husband to Rhoda. What I remember most about Gary, in the last years of his life, was his appreciation for us, his sister and brother, who made sure that he was safe and well cared for by the staff at Northwood Manor in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He had a particular affection for Melodie Quigley and Roger Currie, who made sure that Gary's needs were met and went well beyond their professional obligations to engage Gary in conversation and activities that he enjoyed. They did so in a compassionate and caring way. Gary is and will always be missed by those who remember him, with admiration and love. You might say that Gary was a force of Nature!

Harvey Hamburg (friend of Janice)

Entered September 25, 2024 from Toronto

I'm sorry I was unable to be at the remembrance.

Harvey

Life Stories 

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Ken Zatzman (Brother of Gary)

Entered September 18, 2024 from Toronto

The obituary of Gary should adequately serve as his "Life Story". The Zatzman family currently has no further plans to populate this section of this online Memorial book.

Photos 

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