Robert "Mick" Zink

Robert Lee “Mick” Zink, age 93, of Warren, Illinois, went to be with Jesus late Saturday night, August 6, 2016 at his home with his wife and son at his side. The Rite of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, August 13, 2016 at Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church in Elizabeth with Pastor Kenneth R. Arndt officiating. A visitation will be held from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the church. Burial will be in the Elizabeth Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund has been established.
Mick was born June 8, 1923 at the hospital in Savanna, the son of George Christian Johann and Mary Elizabeth (Endress) Zink. He married Marlys Jeannette Guenzler on October 28, 1966 at St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Massbach. They began their married life living at Derinda Center and Massbach before moving to Warren in 1977.
He was raised on dairy farms at Pleasant Valley, Warren, and Savanna. He began school at the one-room Little Union School in Pleasant Valley and then attended school at Warren and Savanna. He was a 1941 graduate of Warren High School.
During high school he worked for Virgil and Florence Bonjour milking cows and delivering bottled milk in Warren every morning before school. After his graduation he went to work for his sister, Emma Albrecht, and her husband on the Cash Eells farm near Winslow. After the farm was destroyed by a tornado on June 22, 1944, he worked a short time for A.H. Burrows at his lumber yard in Warren. He then spent many years working for his brother, Cy Zink, on the Christian Albrecht farm near Massbach. It was during this time that he began hauling milk for the Massbach Cheese Factory, learned the cheesemaking craft, and eventually became the head cheesemaker. Years later one of the farmers who supplied the factory with milk remembered and shared, “Mick made good cheese!” His cheesemaking career was cut short when he contracted tuberculosis in 1963, and he spent over a year at the TB sanitarium in Rockford. He then attended the Morrison Institute of Technology in Morrison and began working at the Eaton Corporation plant in Savanna in 1966. He transferred to the Eaton plant in Warren when it opened in the early 1970’s and retired from there as maintenance supervisor in 1987. He was also the co-owner of the Albrecht-Zink service station in Winslow for a short time in the late 1950’s.
Mick was a communicant member of Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church in Elizabeth. He was baptized by Pastor Fritz Kehren on August 5, 1923 at Good Hope Evangelical Lutheran Church in Pleasant Valley. He was confirmed by Pastor C.A. Wiederanders on May 16, 1948 at St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Massbach.
Like all the Zinks, Mick enjoyed fox hunting with a good hound, fishing on the Mississippi and Pecatonica rivers, telling a good story, and time spent with his large immediate and extended family. In his younger years he played on the Massbach traveling baseball team and was active in the bowling league at Elizabeth. In retirement he enjoyed gardening, fishing, and woodworking. He made many toy barns, dollhouses, and pieces of furniture in his workshop. If you met Mick you never forgot his big smile and the mischievous twinkle in his eye.
He is survived by his wife, Marlys, of Warren; one son, Joel Zink, of Alexis; one sister, Betty Kent, of Warren; several nieces and nephews including a very special nephew, Keith Kent, of Warren; his wife’s sister, Loris Beyer of Elizabeth; his wife’s brothers, Marion (Joyce) Guenzler and Ivan (Kathleen) Guenzler, both of Massbach; and his wife’s nieces and nephews.
Mick was preceded in death by his parents; nine siblings and their spouses: William “Cy” (Alvena) Zink, Walter “Hans” (Violet) Zink, George “Axle” Zink, Earl “Pete” (Evelyn) Zink, Emma (Walter) Albrecht, Florence (Charles) Staicar, Clara (Melvin) Shultz, Elsie (Mervin) Martin, and Delores (Delvin) Paige; two siblings in infancy; his wife’s sisters, Irma Beyer and Edna Hickman; and his brother-in-law and fishing buddy, Gordon Kent.