Born in on March 9, 1990.
Zach was born on Friday at 6:57 p.m. at Davenport Medical Center. He weighed 7 lbs 2 ounces. He had to be born by c-section because he was too stubborn to be born naturally - he was sideways and would not move. The doctor had to climb on the table and wrestle him out. His dad was in the operating room when Zach was born. He was a beautiful chubby baby, and in the white diaper with his dark skin, the nurses called him a little sumu wrestler. In the hospital Zach met his older sister Kiesha. She thought he was going to be able to play with her right away and was a little disappointed that he was so small. But they were tight, she loved him so much and the feeling was mutual from then on.
Zach learned things quickly, he walked at 9 months old and was climbing out of his crib before that. He liked to play with his guitar and he would jam to Led Zepplin and ACDC. We moved to California when Zach was almost 2 years old. It was a 4 day trip on the Greyhound bus. He had all the passengers laughing the whole time. He would talk to them and do his kung foo moves in the isles. He always liked to make people laugh. In California he lived on a wetlands and had a wolf, pigmy goats, and a pet pheasant named Fozzie. Zach and his sister got involved with 4H and had a great time together raising animals and doing things in the community.
When Zach was almost 4 we moved back to Iowa. Zach's little sister Kirstie passed away that year (1994). He was so heartbroken and even at his age he somewhat understood what was going on. He let go one single balloon at her funeral. It said "I love you". He said "it was for her to play with in heaven". It went up to heaven after it circled us several times. We all held on to each other even tighter and managed to get through it ... although Kirstie has never went too far out of our thoughts. As he got older he spent many nights up at her grave sitting there with his friends spending time with his little sister.
At 5, right on schedule, Zach started kindergarden. He loved school in the early days, he got into wrestling for a little while then quit until High School. He got more involved with his Grandma in the Pow Wows and his Native American culture. Grandma's job was to give him his indian name once he was old enough to show his personality. Zach is Apache, Cherokee, Sioux, Chocktaw, Irish & Scottish. She named him STRONG BULL which truely fits him. She was always so proud of him and he loved dancing in the Pow wows with his sister and step brother Dylan. In 1999 Zach lost his grampa Jerry Rupe after a very long painful illness, that tore him up again. He was very close to him. Grandpa Rupe had tought him all about fishing and hunting. This was how Zach knew how to fish for the big cats in the Mississippi, what bait to use and how to tie his line properly. It was his second experience losing someone he loved dearly.
In 2001, grandma married an amazing man named Butch Studer. He is Native American also and was the person responsible for Zach and Dylan getting their own handmade indian regalia. He taught Zach and Dylan so much more about the indian culture, bow hunting and everything else you could think of. They did get very close over the next few years.
Shortly after this Kiesha married Steven, and him and Zach have always been the best of friends. I've never seen any man in Zach's life have such an impact on him. If there has ever been anyone in his life that he respected above all ... it is Steven. He always wanted to be just like him. And when Little Steven was born Zach couldn't have been a happier Uncle. He babysit him alot and played with him for hours at a time. Zach went on many family vacations with them and always had a great time.
In High School Zach got into the wrestling again. His first year wrestling was a little tough but then he dominated. He won so many awards and so many matches. He was born to wrestle. He loved competition and loved winning even more. We would all go watch his matches, and at times had to calm grandma down when she thought the ref was unfair. She always thougth Zach should have won every one. Again, Zach was her #1. We all had so many good times during these years, memories that have or will be posted. Camping, fishing, and boating.
But Zach always had the most fun hanging out with his friends. They were what he lived for. There has been so many kids coming in and out of our house for so many years.... he's always been so popular and had so many friends. Zach had a cell phone for about 6 months and after 3 months in a row where the cell phone bills were over $600 a month we had to put a stop to it. He just couldn't live with the minutes that were provided each month. He said "its impossible I just can't keep it down to that - I got people!!!". After that the house phone never quit and we could never keep up with the "girlfriends".... I can't count the times I've heard him say "hollar at ur boii" on the phone when he called someone and got their voicemail.
11th grade was the toughest for him. He quit wrestling due an untrue rumor at school. It was tough on him - after that he really had no more motivation as far as PVHS was concerned. But he did finish school with very high test scores. In February 2008 his niece Brookly was born - he was an Uncle again and was happy about that. Although he was way too busy to babysit now that he was older... he loved her still. He started working and was considering the Army as his career. His options were still being explored when Grandma was diagnosed with terminal cancer in early 2008. On August, 8th 2008 Butch passed away. Zach was a pallbearer for him and it again hit him very hard. The person that had made him so much closer to his heritage and the only one he could learn true Native culture from was gone. His grandma passed away 13 days later on August 21st, he was a pallbearer for her as well. He watched her in pain for weeks. She had been taken care of at his house for some time before she passed away. It wasn't a quiet, peaceful experience and it tormented him. They did have many talks before she died and she willed her car to him and made him promise he would get himself together and make something of his life. And he was trying. Zach still continued to go to the cemetary to visit not only his baby sister but now his grandma and two grandpa's that meant everything to him. More to come....