{"id":92128,"date":"2019-10-17T23:22:22","date_gmt":"2019-10-17T23:22:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-shows-up-in-force-for-ed-zink-memorial\/"},"modified":"2019-10-17T23:22:22","modified_gmt":"2019-10-17T23:22:22","slug":"durango-shows-up-in-force-for-ed-zink-memorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-shows-up-in-force-for-ed-zink-memorial\/","title":{"rendered":"Durango shows up in force for Ed Zink memorial"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Jeff
Jeff Huber, First United Methodist Church pastor, led the memorial service for Ed Zink on Monday at the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College. Zink co-founded the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic, owned Mountain Bike Specialists on Main Avenue in Durango and was a hay farmer in the Animas Valley. He died Friday from complications of a heart attack.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

If you want Ed Zink\u2019s legacy of unwavering community service to continue, live it.<\/p>\n

That was the message to hundreds of people who attended a memorial service for the Durango native Monday at the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College.<\/p>\n

Zink, a pillar of the community with a seemingly endless list of contributions, died Oct. 11 at age 71 from complications of a heart attack<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Zink family\u2019s history in Southwest Colorado dates to the early 1900s, when Ed Zink\u2019s grandfather, John, moved his family to the Animas Valley north of Durango in 1910.<\/p>\n

Ed Zink was born Nov. 13, 1947. He was the only one of his five siblings never to move away from his family\u2019s property, the Waterfall Ranch, and took on much of the responsibly of running it in the late 1980s. He also ran Waterfall Outfitters, an elk hunting operation, for years.<\/p>\n

Ed Zink also helped found the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic; was the owner of Mountain Bike Specialists in downtown Durango; led efforts to bring the World Mountain Bike Championships to Durango in 1990; was integral in legislation to protect Hermosa Creek; and was part of countless community groups and organizations.<\/p>\n

He was also part of the founding of Trails 2000, San Juan Mountains Association and Four Corners Office for Resource Efficiency.<\/p>\n

At the memorial service, all agreed there\u2019s just no way to sum up all Zink has done for the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad was involved in so many things in this community,\u201d Kristi Zink said. \u201cIt will be sometime before we understand the scope \u2026 of the holes he left.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Standing-room
Standing-room only at a memorial service for Ed Zink on Monday at the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

All of the Community Concert Hall\u2019s 600 seats were taken. Hundreds more filled in every space in aisles or stairways.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can tell by looking around about his impact on the community,\u201d said Jeff Huber, First United Methodist Church pastor, who commented that Zink\u2019s death has felt sudden and like a shock. \u201cHe seemed to have a lot of life ahead of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ed Zink\u2019s wife, Patti, said thousands of people have sent their thoughts and prayers to the family.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m grateful that God gave me Ed,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m heartbroken I didn\u2019t get as much time as I wanted with Ed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Members
Members of the Bar D Wranglers sang during Ed Zink\u2019s memorial service Monday at the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Family
Family members of Ed Zink comfort each other during a memorial service Monday at the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

John Glover with Mountain Bike Specialists said all of Ed Zink\u2019s community service took him away from his family. But it was something he was passionate about.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to thank his family for sharing him,\u201d Glover said. \u201cEd knew life is a journey, and he enjoyed everyone he met along the way. \u2026 His mission on Earth wasn\u2019t finished.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gaige Sippy, director of the Iron Horse, said Ed Zink always kept benefits to the community at the forefront when planning the annual bike race where cyclists try to get to Silverton before the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad train.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe never dreamed it would turn into what it\u2019s turned into,\u201d Sippy said. \u201cHe\u2019d be proud to know this community was here today. \u2026 It\u2019s been a hell of a ride.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The
The stage for Ed Zink\u2019s memorial service was decorated with items that played a prominent role in his life.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Ron Corkish, president of La Plata County Search and Rescue, said Ed Zink, who volunteered for the team, was always willing to help in search missions, no matter the day or hour.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the years, I\u2019ve lost track of the amount of times I\u2019ve called (Ed),\u201d Corkish said. \u201cAll the years and countless hours \u2026 without hesitation, regret or frustration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ed Zink\u2019s son, Tim, said people in the community have asked if there\u2019s anything they can do for the family in their time of grief. He said \u201cyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKeep Ed Zink\u2019s legacy of serving the greater good alive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

jromeo @durangoherald.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hundreds pack into Community Concert Hall to pay tribute<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":92129,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5893,5984,5985,5736,5735,5817],"tags":[1920,2111,1807,4259],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-92128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-animas-valley","category-iron-horse-bicycle-classic","category-la-plata-county-search-and-rescue","category-local-news","category-news","category-newsletter-sign-up","tag-animas-valley","tag-iron-horse-bicycle-classic","tag-la-plata-county-search-and-rescue","tag-newsletter-sign-up"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92128"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=92128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}