Obituary of Mark Peter Zanna

Surrounded by his family, Mark passed away peacefully at the Village of University Gates on February 22, 2020. Mark was loved and cherished by Betsy, his wife of 51 years, and dearly loved by his sons Adam (Colleen) and Jamie (Eugenia), brother Tom, sister Eleanor (Dave) Brown, niece Madeline, and grandchildren Penelope, Ethan, Theo and Dylan.

Mark was born on March 4, 1944, in Geneva, New York, to Mary and Peter Zanna. Mark grew up in Minneapolis (St. Louis Park), Minnesota. An athlete all of his life, Mark played hockey, baseball and basketball, serving as the starting point guard on the St. Louis Park High School team that won the Minnesota State Basketball Championship in 1962.

Mark completed both his undergraduate BA (1966) and Ph.D in Social Psychology (1970) at Yale University before accepting his first position as Assistant Professor at Princeton University. In 1975, Mark joined the Psychology Department at the University of Waterloo, where, along with John Holmes and Michael Ross, he helped to create a world-class graduate training program in Social Psychology. Mark loved his life’s work as a Professor conducting research and mentoring graduate students. He valued his colleagues and their collective pursuit of excellence. Mark retired from University of Waterloo after 39 years as a Distinguished Professor Emeritus, recipient of University of Waterloo awards for Excellence in Research (2000), Outstanding Performance (2004, 2008, 2011) and Excellence in Graduate Supervision (2005). Mark was named Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1999 and received the Killam Prize for Social Sciences in 2011.

Beyond his many accomplishments, Mark was a devoted husband, father and grandfather. He was an ardent supporter of UW athletics and a proud member of the Waterloo Pheasants basketball team. He played softball and hockey through his early 70s and was a four-time winner of the Rogue Puck.

Special thanks for the care and comfort that Mark received from the staff, nurses and doctors at the Village of University Gates.

There will be a visitation at the Erb & Good Family Funeral Home on Saturday, February 29 from 4 to 8 p.m and a chance for remarks and remembrances starting at 6:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes donations to a scholarship in Mark’s name to support Graduate Studies in Psychology at the University of Waterloo. Please click here to access the dedicated webpage for the Mark Zanna Graduate Scholarship in Psychology.

To view the moving tribute written by Mark’s colleagues at the University of Waterloo, please click here.