Obituaries - Jan. 6, 1999

* Tate V. Zytkoskee; Seventh-day Adventist Elder Thousand Oaks resident Tate Van Eman Zytkoskee died Monday at home following a lengthy illness. He was 86.

Zytkoskee was born Sept. 15, 1912, in Takoma Park, Md. After his mother died when he was 5, Zytkoskee moved with his family to Victory, Wis., where he was home-schooled under the direction of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

He dedicated his life’s work to the church, said his wife of 52 years, Mary.

After graduating from a high school sponsored by the church in Homer, Minn., Zytkoskee worked with his Uncle Emil Liers farming mink. He also toured the country with his uncle and helped him present a show that included trained otters.

Zytkoskee earned a degree in religious studies from Union College in Lincoln, Neb.

During World War II, he was a medic in the Army’s 6th Infantry Division. With his detachment, Zytkoskee served 219 consecutive days on the front lines in the Philippines. For his bravery, he was awarded the Bronze Star with two oak leaf clusters.

On Aug. 11, 1946, Zytkoskee married Mary, his college sweetheart, in St. Paul. Minn. By the early 1950s, the couple had moved to Baltimore and Zytkoskee was ordained as a church elder. He also earned a master’s degree from the University of Maryland.

The couple and their two children traveled the country and the world while Zytkoskee worked for the church in several educational capacities. They spent time in Virginia, New York, Korea and Singapore.

In 1979, Zytkoskee retired and moved with his wife to Orlando, Fla., to be close to one of their daughters. They later returned to Virginia, where they lived for several years before moving to Ventura County in the early 1990s and to Thousand Oaks in 1994.

In addition to his wife, Zytkoskee is survived by two daughters, Jacquie Randall of Thousand Oaks and Taryl Beth Cordone of Atlanta; a brother, Gordon Zytkoskee of Paradise, near Sacramento, and one grandchild.

There will be a memorial service at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Gainsborough Seventh-day Adventist Church in Thousand Oaks. Interment will be in St. Paul.

Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Mortuary in Westlake Village is handling the arrangements.