John Walter Zawodniak Jr

John Walter Zawodniak Jr, age 89, died of natural causes on January 12, 2020 in American Fork, Utah. He was called “Jack” by his family instead of “Junior/Senior” with his father. The Zawodniaks, John and Maxine, resided in Charleston, Utah for over 30 years and were active members of the Charleston Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

John is survived by his sister, Mary Ann Murphy, of Hermitage, Pennsylvania his brother Raymond Joseph Zawodniak, of Smithton, Illinois and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his wife Maxine Lucy Metcalf Zawodniak [2018], mother Helen Madalene Ostrowski Zawodniak [1959], father John Walter Zawodniak Sr [1974], brother Leonard Anthony Zawodniak [2003], and step-son Danny Ray Adams [1990].

John was born on May 6, 1930 in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, to parents John Walter Zawodniak Sr and Helen Madalene Ostrowski. After graduation from high school he worked with several mechanical firms before enlisting in the United States Navy in 1950. He was a weapons instructor for the Navy until the Korean conflict. He was then stationed in Japan as a crewman on a P-2 Neptune anti-submarine warfare aircraft. He was honorably discharged in 1954 with the Navy Air Medal, Korean Theater Medal and the military Good Conduct Medal.

After his Navy tours, he worked for several firms before hire as a Patrolman with the Hayward (California) Police Department in 1956. He was a Policeman with Hayward for over 15 years before a duty-related injury forced medical retirement in 1971. It was during his police career he responded to an assistance request and met Maxine Lucy Metcalf Adams. That assistance evolved from protection to courtship, and he and Maxine married March 21, 1964 in Reno, Nevada. John adopted Maxine’s son Danny Ray Adams, and the three were sealed as a family for time and eternity in the Oakland Temple in May of 1965.


After John’s retirement, the Zawodniaks lived in several California towns while Maxine continued her 35-year career with Pacific Telephone and Telegraph. John assisted with positions in Real Estate, and dental prosthesis production, while he hand-built their first “real” home board-by-board in Meadow Vista, California. After a time there, they met W. Cleon Skousen on a trip to the Holy Land, and were offered a position with his Freemen Foundation in Utah, the state they adopted and lived in and loved until passing.

John and Maxine served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints in the Arizona Tucson Mission 1992 to 1993, and many other service callings such as Guest Services Missionaries on Temple Square in Salt Lake City.

John’s friends and family will remember him with a gruff exterior that hid the heart of a giant Teddy Bear. He knew he was cared for and so appreciated all the service and love he was rendered, particularly by his neighbors, Home Teachers and Ward friends in the Charleston area. They sustained him through some dark and trying times and he will be eternally grateful for their love.

A viewing is planned for Wednesday, 15 January 2020 from 5 to 7 PM at the Probst Family Funeral Home, 79 E Main Street, Midway, Utah.

A graveside service an internment will be held on Thursday, 16 January 2020 at 1 PM at the Springville Evergreen Cemetery. Friends and family may visit our online guestbook and share a memory of John at www.probstfamilyfunerals.com .