For those of you who don't know me, my name is Neej. Zak, Brandon, and I were inseparable during the days of building and running Element Lounge in San Francisco. Zak was a true builder—creative, resourceful, and always thinking outside the box. But more than that, he had a rare gift: making people feel seen, included, and welcomed.

Whether it was chess games, bike rides, coffee catch-ups, camping adventures, or talks about the future, Zak brought warmth and a spark to everything. He was kind, motivated, and forever curious.

One moment that always makes me smile is a conversation we had about beans (of all things). Brandon and I were praising them as daily favorites. Zak chimed in, smiling: “I love beans! I just don’t like the taste or the texture.” That was Zak—completely himself, joyfully present, and always part of the moment, even when marching to his own beat.

I’ll miss you, buddy. I know you’re out there now, raising a glass with Brandon, talking about beans and everything beyond. Until we meet again my friend...

I wrote this eulogy a couple days after Zak passed. Everyone who spoke at the memorial today captured his memory so well there was nothing more for me to add but I would like to leave my thoughts and feelings about Zak here…

Hello everyone,

Some of you know me but for those of you that don’t my name is Jen and I had the great pleasure of spending two years of my life in a relationship with Zak. I met him when he moved to Tahoe and opened the Himmel. Mayor Ed of course befriended him first and I eventually joined the bandwagon. Obviously Zak was a very attractive, ambitious, funny man with an absolute heart of gold. To me he was a unicorn and amongst my friends I jokingly referred to him that way. When Zak and I started dating I almost couldn’t believe I had landed a unicorn. Zak was easy to fall for but once I really got to know him I grew to truly love him for the person he was and not just for the sparkly caricature I had painted of him in my head. The thing that really made me love him was the tenderness of his heart. I also eventually met and fell in love with his family. And that was when I learned that part of what made Zak so special was the family that he came from. They are truly the salt of the earth kind of people and Zak loved them dearly, which made me love him even more. I am especially heartbroken for their loss. As a parent now I can’t even imagine how it would feel to lose my baby boy. I’m so sorry Jim and Mary Kay. I feel very protective of my personal grief so I won’t say too much about Zak and I’s relationship besides that I really loved him and that we had a lot of amazing times together. Some of my best memories in life are of times I spent with him. Zak and I’s romantic relationship ended eight years ago but we did remain friends. He texted me every year on my birthday and after I had my son he started texting me Happy Mother’s Day on Mother’s Day which I thought was especially sweet. When I first started writing this eulogy I was really struggling with what to say and I reached out to Jake Shea for help. I was struggling with the anger his death was bringing up and Jake in his Jake Shea wisdom reminded me to focus on his angels instead of his demons. He told me to champion the great. Thank you for that Jake. This is actually the third eulogy I have ever delivered and Zak was actually present for one of them. Zak came with me to my grandmother's funeral and his support got me through that loss. My grandmother and Zak actually shared the same birthday and I always thought it was interesting that two of my favorite people on the planet were born on the same day. In my experience there are very few people that are as amazing as Zak and my grandma were. Zak’s sense of humor and gregariousness was what attracted me to him most. He just made life more fun like no other person in my life ever has. I struggle to find the words to express how I feel about him. He wasn’t a perfect person, but I have yet to meet a person on this planet that is. He was however a perfectly imperfect man and somehow even his imperfections endeared me to him. Zak actually reached out to me after Felix died and we had a conversation that I will hold close to my heart for the rest of my life. I know he was in a tremendous amount of emotional and physical pain and that he didn’t know how to deal with it. I guess it goes without saying that Zak had some demons like we all do and unfortunately they got the better of him that night. I know he was in a vulnerable intoxicated state when he did this and I believe that he made a grave mistake. I believe to honor Zak’s memory we should all try to remember Zak for the light he brought the world and not the darkness that we all feel as a result of the way he died. I know some of you are angry with Zak right now, and I do not begrudge you your anger. I am mad as hell too. But I hope with time we can all let that anger go and have mercy on his soul. I hope we can all hold on to all the wonderful memories we have of Zak and let all the rest go. I know this part is going to sound a little kooky but I also asked Zak to help me with this eulogy and the only message that came through was a request for me to remind you all how much he loved you. So if you really want to honor Zak throughout the rest of your life when you find yourself thinking of him try to remember all the good times you had with him and most of all remember that he loved you. All I have left to say is Zak thank you for the good times, I love you always and forever no matter what.