John Joseph Zurenda, Jr., age 67, of Pinellas Park, FL passed away on Tuesday, September 26, 2023 at the Northside Hospital.
On January 5, 1956, he was born in St. Petersburg, FL, the son of John Joseph Zurenda and Arlene Lansing.
On March 8, 1986, he married Deanne M. Grosz at the St. Ignatius Catholic Church in Tarpon Springs, FL. Together, they shared 37 years of marriage.
John was in the US Army 108th MP Company at Ft. Bragg, he was also a Pinellas County Sheriff with the Pinellas Park Police Department and a business owner with Smart Choice Investigations. John was the president of ASLI- Florida Association of Licensed Investigations.
John enjoyed golf, car racing, flying, boxing, football, and the Indianapolis Colts. His proudest achievement was receiving the 1st Victims Advocate Award for the Pinellas Park Police Department. His most unique trait was that on the outside, he was a crusty curmudgeon, but on the inside, he had a heart of gold. He loved his friends and family passionately and would give his life for them.
He is survived by his wife, Deanne M. Zurenda, step-brother, Raymond (Deborah) Zurenda, step-sister, Mary T Zurenda, step-brother, David Zurenda, step-sister, Tina (Doug) Karwich, niece, Nancy Zurenda, niece, Donna Kribbs, Nephew, Eric Sliker, and niece, Kimberly Sliker.
The family would like to thank Mike and Donna Turner for contacting everyone. They would also like to thank the family and friends for their love and support, especially Deanne’s sister, Donna.
Services will be held in his honor on October 3rd, 2023 on Tuesday, October 3rd, 2023 from 1-4 PM at Veterans Funeral Care located at 830 N Belcher Road Clearwater, FL 33765.
Memorial Contributions can be made to Tower2Tower, Wounded Warrior Foundation, and St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
You will be missed my friend….you are loved by me and my family, God bless you!!!
My dearest Johnny Boy, Mr. Zurenda, I will definitely miss you. A HUGE heart of gold is definitely what you had for your friends, family, and your lovely wife, Deanne. An indefinite thanks to have had the honor and privilege of having met you, worked together, but mainly remained friends all these years. You leave so many great memories and I will continue to tell you, you were one tough fighter. Rest in Peace my dear friend and this is not a goodbye but a see you later. God bless you and your family. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🇺🇸🇺🇸🫡🫡
Deanne, you were married to a great man. He will be missed. Prayers to you and the family. He was a great classmate and friend.
As a career banker, I loved it when John caught the bad guys. Praying for the family. He will be missed.
Deanne
My heart breaks for you…I pray God comforts you and the family.
John
You were like a brother to me. We followed each other around since 7th grade. We also served in Police Explorers together in high school. You were always there for me through thick and thin. I love you brother and until we meet again I bid you farewell.
Deanne I am praying for you and your family.
John, I will miss your unique perspective on all things law enforcement and especially your wise counsel on these matters. I will miss your laugh, your heart of gold, your presence at reunions, and just you. Deanne, we were so glad to celebrate your anniversary with the two of you at Chart House. It is one of our favorite memories. You and John were made for each other. John you were a force of nature, a man’s man, and someone we respected so very much. We love you.
You will definitely be missed John! It was a true blessing to with you for so many years. I always knew that I could count on you to get the job done. I loved your warm hugs you always gave. No matter what was going on in your life, you always made sure everyone else was good. You fought a long road, and now you are healed. Until we meet again…
I’ve been overcome by a wave of emotion at not getting to say farewell my friend (first at your untimely passing and next at being overseas for your memorial) but I know you are on your way to a new adventure. You brought levity into my life like no one else and underneath all the well earned sarcasm I always felt your heart made of everything good and just. The memories we made together will go with me to the beyond and I’ll be looking forward to seeing you again in Valhalla :-). BTW I’ll never look at a spoon the same way…..ever!! Safe travels. God Bless you and your family.
John,I’ve known you since HS and I got the opportunity at our last reunion to sit down together for a wonderful catch up talk. You turned out to be such a wonderful man and I was proud to call you my friend. Your job in this life is done and I want you & your family to know, that you have left us all with some great memories. See you in the nextjourney!
Love Always, Karen
Sorry to hear about. Your loss. We worked with John for many years and had a lot of laughs together at Pinellas Park Police Dept. We were all family.
He was a big Teddy Bear
Ed and Dorothy Day
John,
It is hard to believe you’re not with us physically and because you were and will always be my favorite Veteran. Happy Veteran’s Day 🫡🫡🫡🫡🫡🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸