Paul George Zurkowski
The world is emptier. We are missing the big smile, hearty laugh and brilliant mind of a Husband, Brother, Father, Poppy, and Friend.
Paul G. Zurkowski, born on November 8, 1932, died peacefully on January 30, 2022. Paul was the quintessential renaissance man with his next idea right around the corner. Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and raised in Palmyra with his four siblings. He graduated from University of Wisconsin Whitewater with a Bachelor of Arts degree where he started his love of publishing. He then went on to Law School. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin Law School, he moved to Washington, DC, to work for the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). He met his lovely wife Margaret Becker in DC. They married in 1960 and moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where he practiced law and worked for Congressman Kastenmeier as his district representative. He later served his country in the US Army Judge Advocate General Core where he was stationed at Fort Irwin in California, then at the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. After the Army, he joined the Washington DC staff of Congressman Robert Kastenmeier as a Legislative Assistant. From Capitol Hill, he was recruited to form an association of information content companies that were envisioning how their products could keep up with the emerging technologies such as personal computers and the world wide web. This group became the Information Industry Association (IIA). He is credited with coining the phrase “Information Literacy” in a Library of Congress document in 1974, a phrase that is a standard for Information Specialist to this day. Following his 20 years as President of the Information Industry Association, he went on to start Our Parish Times, an all-volunteer newspaper, bringing parish and school news to each Catholic parish in Montgomery County, Maryland. To support this endeavor, he founded the Catholic Business Network, which has provided over $1.6 million in scholarships for Catholic education and is still active today. After moving to Beltsville, MD, in 2005, he volunteer with newly elected representative Rosapepe, and the business community. This led to the creation of the Greater Beltsville Business Network which raised scholarships for Prince Georges County students. He always enjoyed building communities whether in business or for pleasure. He has left behind a loving wife Margaret (nee Becker) of 62 years. His six children, Paul C. Zurkowski and his wife Christine, Pamela Cacchione and her husband Patrick, Patricia Dilling, Peggy Kettle, Paula Zurkowski and Peter Zurkowski. He deeply loved his grandchildren: Christian, Coleman and Claire Zurkowski; Victoria and Anthony Cacchione; Marshall, Ryan, and Collin Dilling; Miller, Abby, and Maggie Kettle. He is also survived by his brother Tom and sister Carol Davis. He was preceded in death by his parents Martha and Stanley Zurkowski, his brother Lester Zurkowski, sister Joanne Earle and her husband Roger Earle, and son-in-law Michael Kettle. He will always be remembered for instilling in all of us the love of the printed word, the joy of puzzles and the excitement of baseball. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his honor to the Catholic Business Network’s Scholarship Fund at the following site https://cbnmc.ejoinme.org/Zurkowski or by mail at CBN-MC Foundation P.O. Box 34549 Bethesda, MD 20851. Or donations may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project P.O. Box 758517 Topeka Kansas, 66675 or www.woundedwarriorproject.org or by phone 877-832-6997. Funeral Mass will be held March 25, 2022 at 11 am at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, 9705 Summit Avenue, Kensington, Maryland, 20895. Live streaming will be available at the following link:https://youtu.be/5nGkVuW9XP4