Zach Valdivia

2002 - 2019  (17 years)

• Name	Zach Valdivia
  Born	27 Feb 2002	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Gender	Male
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-139307
  Died	23 Mar 2019	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Person ID	I139307	Generations
  Last Modified	6 Apr 2024

  
  

• Notes

  Lifetimes: Quirky 17-year-old had boundless creative energy Zach Valdivia of Kitchener; born Feb. 27, 2002 in Kitchener; died March 23, 2019 of cancer KITCHENER - Zach Valdivia was a teen who never bowed to peer pressure. In fact he railed against it. His friends loved him for every quirky thing he did. His love of women's professional wrestling was a case in point. Should anyone make fun of his unusual interest, Zach would show up at school wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with a promo for women's wrestling. It was Zack's way of saying, "This is my thing, deal with it." "He had a lot of passions and he was unapologetic," said friend Ana Matovic. "He did not try to fit in, I loved that." Another childhood friend, Karina Popovici, added that "he was so fearless in everything he did. If he decided to do something, he'd go full out." One of Zack's favourite films was the 2019 biopic "Fighting With My Family" the story of British wrestler, Saraya "Paige" Bevis, who became a star in the American wrestling ring. Why was he so taken by women's wrestling and what was the draw of Bevis in particular? "He always loved powerful women, women that were magical and strong," said his grandmother, Judy Shaw, citing television character Buffy the Vampire Slayer as among his favourites. Zach was thrilled when the Bevis film hit the big screen this past February. "Fighting With My Family" would be the last movie Zach saw after his family arranged a private screening for his Feb. 27 birthday party. The teen was weak from cancer by then but his spirit was strong. Zach was born Feb. 27, 2002 in Kitchener, an only child to Shelly Kraft and Joershinio Valdivia. He was a lovable oddball, whose charm was infectious, so much so that he could get his friends to do just about anything, including acting out crazy plays he would write, handing out the scripts and casting roles. Deanne Bingleman his teacher at the youth drama program, ActOut! recalls Zack "wanted to help kids just like he was helped when he joined the group." Zack was a long time participant and later volunteered with the program. "Zack had an unbelievably amazing sense of humour which I was always in awe of because it came so natural to him," said Deanne. "He could make light of all situations and had a gentle personality so the shyest participant would connect with him." His father admired his son's creative side. "Zack really liked to read, since he was little, and write stories about shows he liked," said Joershinio Valdivia. Zach had so much creativity he barely knew what to do with it all. He tried everything: writing, acting, singing, poetry, even stage combat. When he was assigned a project to create a school play around breakfast, Zack targeted mental illness. Karina said: "Whatever he did he'd put his own artistic spin on it." The Grade 11 Huron Heights Secondary School student did well in school but his light really shone when he could tap into his creative energy. That energy later played out in the kitchen as Zach became a foodie. He was keen on ethnic food. He also loved to make a big turkey dinner with all fixings and then watch his family enjoy his efforts. Shelly recalled that "he liked to cook with us until he was unable to control his hands." While Zack was experimental in his tastes, when it came to lunch he was steadfastly a chicken and rice guy \emdash that's what he ate every day. He had many friends, several of them since kindergarten. he was forever making new friends. "Zack was very loyal to his friends," said Ana. "His friends were absolutely everything to him. "He was loving to the extreme and sensitive to your feelings," she said. "If he loved you, you felt it." His mom recalled how Zack trained all his male friends to say "I love you," even after a phone call. In July 2018, Zack was diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma or DIPG, an incurable cancer of the brain stem. Various treatments, including a drug trial, didn't work so the family vowed to make his final days rich with memories. In October 2018, they took him to New York City with Children's Wish, and in January, they went to Phoenix, on both occasions to see a wrestling show and meet his idols. His father said Zack "had a way to see the word in a positive way and he stayed strong throughout all the fight, always with a positive attitude." When he moved to the hospice Innisfree House his friends visited daily. "As weak as he was, as you walked by his room there'd be groups of kids and they'd all be laughing," said Shelly. "He had everybody laughing." If he wasn't well enough for visitors, the teens would hang out in the lounge doing homework. At least he knew they were there and they cared. Zach didn't want anyone to be sad, even in the shadow of death. Judy said "he just worried about everybody else." Zach died March 23, 2019. A commemorative bench made by Huron Heights students will be installed under a tree and a bursary will be established for creative students. Karina and Ana said if there one bright spot in all the sadness it is that Zack taught them to be kind and to be grateful for their lives. vhill@therecord.com Hill, V. (2019). Lifetimes: Quirky 17-year-old had boundless creative energy. TheRecord.com. Retrieved 24 November 2019, from https://www.therecord.com/news-story/9734587-lifetimes-quirky-17-year-old-had-boundless-creative-energy/

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 27 Feb 2002 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - 23 Mar 2019 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth