Obituary of William S. Zaza

ZAZA, William Shaver. He was born February 17, 1972 at Georgetown University Hospital, son of Frank J. Zaza and Barbara Anne (Shaver) Zaza of Arlington, VA. A student at H B Woodlawn, he received a diploma from Washington-Lee High School in 1990. At Mary Washington College, he entered a student writing contest, submitting two papers: “Changing Perceptions of the Molly Maguires” and “The Passion of 1916”. Both won prizes and both had the history of Ireland, where his father’s grandparents were born, as a theme. It was the first time in the eleven years of the contest that one writer had won two prizes, and resulted in William receiving on the same day the College’s Department of History and American Studies’ Certificate of Excellence “for superior achievement” in the study of history, and from the National Council of Phi Alpha Theta, membership, for “Conspicuous Attainments and Scholarship in the Field of History”. After graduation from Mary Washington, William was a graduate student at the College of William & Mary until illness forced him to return to Arlington, where he worked at the National Archives and the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center. He was a talented guitarist and cartoonist. Suffering from several medical problems, he was admitted September 17, 2014, to the Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington and from there transferred September 30th to the Washington Hospital Center, where his heart stopped beating on October 19, 2014. As long as those who knew him live, he will be loved.