Edmund Anthony Zottola, June 25, 1932 – October 4, 2017. Ed passed away peacefully from complications due to Alzheimer's at the Cook Care Center, with Marsha, his wife of 57 years by his side.

"I spent my life doing exactly what I wanted to do and I am pleased with what I accomplished in my life and the influence & affect that I may have had on my family, my friends, & my students!"

Edmund was born in Gilroy, California, the son of first generation Italian immigrants, Palmer and Teresa Zottola. Palmer and his brother started a dairy in Gilroy and later moved to Grants Pass, Oregon, where they started the Zottola Brother's dairy, which later became Valley of the Rogue Dairy. Ed's first job was working in his father's dairy turning rounds cheese in the aging room. He later drove the milk delivery truck around Grants Pass.

Ed played football in high school and in 1948, was part of the Grants Pass Cavemen's state championship team. Upon returning from the game, the bus went over the side of the mountain north of town, killing two players and injuring many more. Ed was one of the few players not injured in the accident. The battered trophy still sits in the trophy case at Grants Pass High School.

Ed graduated from Oregon State University (OSU) in 1954, with a degree in Food Science. He went on to get his Masters degree in Food Science at OSU in 1958, writing his dissertation about butter. Ed then moved to the Twin Cities to pursue his PhD in Food Science, at the University of Minnesota, which he received in 1964.

In the summer of 1959, he met the love of his life at Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis. Marsha Elaine Olson was a lab tech at the VA hospital. They married in April 1960. While their lives took them to many places including Glenview, IL; Corning, IA; Corvallis, Oregon; and Fermoy, County Cork, Ireland, they made their home in St. Anthony Park in St. Paul, Minnesota. They raised their four children there and attended St. Anthony Park Lutheran Church. They made frequent trips to their cabin on Lake Vermilion, where they moved after Ed retired. In Cook, they attended Trinity Lutheran Church where Ed was a frequent greeter and usher. Ed was also a member of the Cook Lions Club, Northwoods Friends of the Arts, and the Lake Vermilion Sportsman's Club.

Ed dreamed of traveling when he was young. With his family they traveled to Europe numerous times, most notably in 1974, where they camped in an orange Volkswagen camper he named, Cheddar. On this trip, Ed was studying cheese making for his work at UMN. Ed also took his family all over the United States, traveling by car to Florida twice and numerous trips west to see family and friends.

During his 31 years at the University of Minnesota he worked the Extension Service before becoming a full professor of Food Microbiology in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition. He created a series of courses on home canning for the Extension service that is still in use today. He also created a program of farmstead cheese after studying cheese-making processes in Europe. One farm, Eichten's Cheese & Bison, is still producing Gouda cheese with techniques they learned through this program.

Ed, known as Dr. Z to his students, mentored and graduated more than 45 Post Baccalaureate students, 30 Masters and 15 PhD candidates in his tenure at the University of Minnesota. Today they work in major corporations like Kraft, General Mills, Hershey's and Ecolab, helping to keep our food supply safe.

Dr. Z retired in 1998 but continued to travel and do consulting work. He is recognized as one of the foremost authorities on home canning, sanitation in food production, and cheese making. He was active in several professional societies. He was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Food Technologists and a Fellow of the International Association of Microbiology, Food, & Environmental Sanitarians.

Dr. Z was a prolific writer, publishing dozens of scientific articles alone and with colleagues and students. He recorded his many trips in diaries, including the 1974 trip, which he later typed and printed for his children to remember it by. In 2008, he wrote and published, Willie Walleye , an award winning children's book based on stories told to his grandchildren. In his later years, he wrote a popular column in the Cook News Herald titled Ramblings From an Old Professor.

Dr. Z was known for his love of good cheese, wine, and his sometimes corny sense of humor. He loved making people laugh; his dad jokes are legendary. Teaching was one of his passions and was very fond of all of his graduate students, thinking of them as part of his family. He loved watching sports, particularly the University of MN Golden Gophers football and hockey and was a season ticket holder for over 40 years. He cheered on the Oregon State Beavers as well. He had Vikings season tickets for many years and in fact has his seats from the old Met Stadium. He loved to take photos, make wood items in his shop, and share jokes with any one who would listen. Consummate card players, Ed and Marsha played Bridge for years with friends. After retirement, 10 rounds of gin rummy was part of their morning routine.

Currently, he is out fishing somewhere in the region of northern Minnesota, still wondering what walleyes do in their spare time.

He was preceded in death by his parents Palmer and Teresa; in-laws, Paul and Lucille Olson; one sister-in-law, Barbara Bergman; and one brother-in-law, Irvin Ole Swanson; one niece, Verna Scott; one nephew, Robert Zottola; and one great nephew, Sam Swanson.

He is survived by his wife, Marsha; two sons, Joseph Zottola and Josh Zottola, Sr; two daughters, Sarah (Michael) Masoni, and Theresa Zottola Drift; six grandchildren, Jessica, Amy, JessieAnne, Sean, Joshua Jr., and Sierra; two brothers, Palmer (Millie) Zottola of Grants Pass, Ernie (Diana) Zottola of Junction City, OR, and one sister, Teresa (Richard) Miller of Grants Pass, OR; numerous nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews, and 3 great-great nieces and 2 great-great nephews; many colleagues, friends, and students.

A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, October 21, 2017, at 1:00pm at the Trinity Lutheran Church, Cook, MN. Pastor Bruce Hannem will officiate. A visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at the church.

The family asks that memorials be directed to Alzheimer's Association Minnesota-North Dakota, 7900 West 78th Street, Suite 100, Minneapolis, MN 55439, http://www.alz.org/mnnd/ or The American Cheese Society's ACE Foundation, 2696 S. Colorado Boulevard, Suite 570, Denver, Co, 80222 http://www.cheesesociety.org/ace-foundation/.