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In Memory of Dr. Zdenka Horáková

Dr. Zdenka Horáková, a long-time SVU member, died on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 2016, after a prolong illness. Obituary by Mila and Eva Rechcígl, Zdenek and Eva Vich.

She was born, as Zahutová, in Jindřichův Hradec on April 6, 1925. She was a noted pharmacologist, with academic degrees from Charles University (Ph.Mr., 1949, RNDr., 1952) and the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (CSc., 1961).

Zdenka met her late husband Václav Horák, as a student at Charles University, fell in love and married him in 1949, a marriage lasting over 64 years. During their long and happy life, together, they shared their love of the outdoors by canoeing, skiing and hiking, and love of travel. Their son, David V. Horak, Ph.D., had chosen chemistry for his career, as his late father. During the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968, the Horák family was outside the country. Professor Václav Horák was in the US, giving lectures, while Zdenka and son were in Italy. They decided not to return to Czechoslovakia, and the family was reunited in New York City, on Christmas Day of the same year. Václav accepted chemistry professorship at Georgetown University, and the family permanently settled in Bethesda, MD.

Zdenka, in the meantime, started to work for National Institutes of Health.  After a number of years, she obtained another assignment in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and later accepted a position as a toxicologist at Forest Service, where she remained until her retirement.

Zdenka and her late husband spent much time with David’s family, two grandsons, Kyle and Erik, both following the chemistry footsteps of their grandfather, and their mother Lois Shiozawa OD (optometrist).

Zdenka had a passionate love for travel and after her returns from various countries, she had plenty of interesting stories to tell her friends, for example, when she was left alone, locked up for hours in an underground burial complex in Egypt.

With her considerable scientific knowledge, she was an important person in our Czech community always helping people who needed a good advice and solving their problems.

Zdenka Horáková’s passing is a great loss to all of us who counted her as their friend, and who will miss her in their traditional monthly Senior Lunch get-togethers.

Mila and Eva Rechcigl, Zdenek and Eva Vich