Anton "Tony" Zlatnik

Anton (Tony) Joseph Zlatnik, 99, passed away peacefully at The Gables in Shelley, Idaho on May 7, 2024.

He was born on August 18, 1924 in Morrill, Nebraska to Frederick and Dorothy (Chalupa) Zlatnik, the 5th of 6 children. He grew up in Morrill until graduating high school. With WW2, he soon enlisted in the Army. Tony landed in Normandy one month after D-Day, assigned to guarding and maintaining a fuel pumping station to the front lines for the rest of the war. While stationed in France, he received word that his brother Hank had died while serving on the USS Princeton during the battle of Leyte Gulf.

After the war, he returned home to attend Colorado A&M (Go Aggies), achieving a degree in Agronomy. He worked for the Bureau of Reclamation in Riverton, Wyoming where he met the love of his life Dorothy Taylor.

After having the first two children, Tony moved the family to Chicago to complete an electronics course. Then they moved to Gooding, Idaho, where Tony started a Television Repair and Sales business, which he ran for over 30 years. He inherited his dad's knack for fixing whatever broke with whatever was at hand, the classic duct tape and bailing wire kind of guy.  He garnered a reputation for quality, reliability and honesty.

Dad could be fearless, like the time he took 7 Boy Scouts to Minnesota in a borrowed motor home to canoe at Boundary Waters Canoe Base. He sucked all the life out that he could, with a warm but mischievous smile. He never missed our choir and band concerts and all the other special events that filled a child's life.  The grandkids remember his morning eggs and pancakes as well as his Thanksgiving turkeys.  He tied his own flies and loaded his own ammo,  with a passion for fishing, hunting and almost anything that would take him outdoors.  In his life he bagged many elk and deer, one mountain goat and limited out on fish for a lifetime.

Tony and Dorothy loved traveling together, whether on a weekend excursion to the hills or a visit to family. They loved grandkids even more than kids and always made time for visiting. They spent their later years together on weekend yard sales and small adventures with family. Tony said goodbye to his wife of 64 years in September of 2015, following her long illness.

He is missed by his 3 children, Clay (Ruth) Zlatnik of Kennewick, WA, Carol (Renn)  Christensen of Shelley, ID and Clint (Vickie) Zlatnik of Philomath, OR, along with a zillion grandkids and great grandkids. Living to 99, he was proceeded in death by most of his family and friends.  A celebration of life is being planned for sometime this summer.