Visitation will be on Thursday, November 7, 2019 at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Jefferson City, MO from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm. Mass of Christian Burial will follow at 12:00 pm at the church with Fr. Don Antweler officiating.
Jacob was born on June 10, 1979 in Kansas City, MO the son of Edward and Jeanne Marie (Schmidt) Zagorac. He was married on June 7, 2003 in Vienna, MO to Jennifer Stratman.
Jacob attended grade school at Immaculate Conception Catholic School and then graduated from Jefferson City High School in 1997. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business from Lincoln University. He worked at McDonalds in High School; always saying that is where he got his work ethic. He also worked at the News Tribune and then was a Family Service Counselor at Memorial Funeral Home and Cemetery in Columbia, MO. He enjoyed serving families at the funeral home and took great pride in his work where he consistently earned the highest level of achievements - the Century Club Award.
Jacob volunteered at the Salvation Army and was a member of the Ashland Optimist Club. He was an avid Cardinal Baseball and Mizzou Basketball fan; enjoyed hunting, fishing, and golfing. His pride and joy was his family. He will be remembered as a devoted husband and exceptional father and one who lived his life with the highest degree of integrity. He enjoyed taking family vacations from skiing trips to going to the beach to hiking in the State Parks.
Survivors include: his wife, Jennifer Zagorac of the home; three children, Alex Zagorac, Mya Zagorac and Adah Zagorac all of Ashland, MO; his father, Ed Zagorac of Jefferson City, MO; one sister, Kelley Zagorac of St. Louis, MO; one brother-in-law, Matt Stratman (Sarah) of Vienna, MO; three sisters-in-law, Erin Murphy (Ethan), Beth Wulff (John) of Vienna, MO and Anna Ramsey (Justin) of Iberia, MO; nieces and nephews, Brooklyn, Braden, Landon, Aria, Jack, Ashton, Danielle, Morgan, Kara, Troy, Wyatt, Cody and Roran; two Godsons, Connor and Owen and many aunts, uncles and cousins. He was preceded in death by his mother, Jeanne Zagorac and his Godfather, Richard Brink.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to NAMI – National Alliance on Mental Illness, c/o Memorial Funeral Home, 1217 Business Loop 70 West, Columbia, MO 65202.
In Memory of Jacob Zagorac
Reflecting on the stories of my cousin Jacob, about all he has done over the years, everyone he has touched, all of the beauty and grace and joy and challenges that were a part of who he was, you see a man so strong and so driven to create and live the very best life he could. With his parents, his wife, his beautiful children, his church, his friends, the impact that he had in his much too short life is profound, and we now feel the profound and tragic sadness of his death.
He made his life happen, as he pushed hard against and climbed over and plowed through obstacles, and he did so with innately fallible, human, God-inspired grace. All that he carried with him was ultimately too heavy, and the obstacles too much for any one individual to handle. He looked for help, he asked for strength and he kept his faith.
Dear Jacob, the heaviness is gone. Your struggle is done. You are now light, your light, a light that will fill any room, and fill any one of our own darkest days. You are now free, as free as we all hope we will someday be, to have only the energy of joy and love around you.
We can’t know or truly understand the struggle and the demons that were his to fight, just as we all fight our own. We do know that what allowed him to be and to give his heart and soul to those he loved for these four decades is everyone who knows him, and everyone who has gone before, who love him and care for him and gave him reason to work hard each day.
Jacob is one of the strongest people I have ever known. Period. The strength to fight his fight and to carry the burdens he carried required more than anyone of us could fathom. Ed and Jeanne and Jennifer and Alex and Mya and Adah and Kelley and everyone who loves him can be proud of the strength and energy and love that defines his life. Nothing more. God bless you, Jacob.
I only hope that in my own struggles and battles of life I can summon the same strength as Jacob, that I can face the most adverse and challenging times with the faith, love and conviction to survive that he brought out each day until his very last. He inspires and challenges us to face our own demons and so critically important as part of that to ask for help, to ask for support, from those around us, from those we love and from a divine power greater than all of us. Because we are not alone. He was not alone. You are not alone. He is loved. You are loved. That is the message I take from his life - and pledge to carry into his world.
Those who love him and who he loved, those who know him and have felt his impact, we will continue each day in his light. And we must and will shine that light into every darkness we see, in his name.
