John L Zuccolo

John is survived by his ex-wife and companion, Kathie Michael; his son, Michael, and his partner, Melanie; his granddaughter, Gwendolyn; his daughter, Katie, and her husband, Michael; and his brother, Larry, and his wife, Myra. He was preceded in death by his father, Lawrence John Zuccolo; his mother, Mary Elizabeth (Leoncini) Zuccolo; and his brother, Geoffrey Zuccolo.

John grew up in Dumont, New Jersey, where he graduated from Dumont High School. After high school, he served in the Army as an E5 Medic during the Vietnam War, from 1969 to 1970, stationed in Germany. Following his service, John returned to New Jersey to continue his education and graduated from Rutgers University with a bachelor's degree in Biology. He then pursued master's courses at Fairleigh Dickinson University, where he met his future wife, Kathie.

John began his distinguished career in medical device sales with Chesebrough-Ponds and later Kimberly-Clark. After some time, he transitioned into orthopedic implant sales, working for a Depuy distributor in New York City. In the summer of 1992, new opportunities called, and he moved with his family to Florida. In 1997, John joined a distributor for Encore Orthopaedics, where he quickly became involved with a key surgeon and a small team of engineers working on the revolutionary Reverse Shoulder Prosthesis (RSP). The success of the RSP propelled John to great heights in his career. In 2003, he launched his own Encore distributorship, Ortho Solutions, where he and his sales team earned numerous awards and accolades, often achieving the status of top distributor in the nation.

John raised his children in Florida, close to the ocean, as he loved boating and fishing, especially when surrounded by family and friends.

Whether at his local watering hole, skiing out West, assisting with surgery in an operating room, or singing his favorite Frank Sinatra songs at karaoke, John made a lasting impression on everyone he met.

A graveside funeral service will be held at 3PM on Friday, April 4th at Sylvan Abbey Memorial Park, 2853 Sunset Point Rd. in Clearwater. All are welcome to attend.

Service to be followed by a gathering at John’s home in Clearwater Beach.

In Lieu of flowers, Donations can be made by check to help further Amyloid Research

Mayo Clinic

Dept of Development/Amyloid Research

200 First Street SW

Rochester, MN 55905

In the memo put John Zuccolo/Amyloid Research