Tyrone Von Zanders

Tyrone "Von" Zanders was born in his childhood home on December 21, 1939 in Winter Haven, Florida. He departed this earthly realm on March 11, 2026 at his home awaiting Aortic Valve Replacement surgery with his loving daughter by his side caressing his head as he slowly took his last breath, not in agony, while they both waited for the paramedics to arrive.

Tyrone, known as "Von" to all his friends was the only son and has four sisters, three of whom, he did not meet until his father's funeral and when he locked eyes with his sister Pat, she said she immediately felt so much love for him and he as well cherished her and all of his new found sisters, Pat, Jackie and Debbie.

As a child, his family relocated from Florida to Los Angeles, California in hopes of better opportunities for Von to reach his potential in life. As a very young man, he joined the Navy and proudly served until he was honorably discharged. Next, he married a beautiful young woman, Lois Jean Zanders, whom he met at a Naval party with her big sister, Angela Thomas, who told Lois that Von was a very nice man. Soon thereafter, he married Lois and he had two children, a boy, Eric Von Zanders and a girl, Nicole Marie Zanders.

With eclectic interests, he enjoyed music, specifically Jazz and attended many concerts in Santa Barbara throughout his life, "Buddy Guy" being one of his favorites. Not often known by others but Von played the congas and bongos in a band in Puerto Rico and also during family gatherings.

Also, he excelled in Martial Arts, Table Tennis and most of all he loved to compete in cycling competitions. In cycling, he participated in the World Corporate Games and Ventura County Time Trial races as well as the Acura Cycling races in Long Beach, California.

What is most impressive was Von's tenacity to overcome prejudice from upper  management in the workplace and yet he did not become discouraged but provided written explanations to support his merit in writing after every review. 

He earned several awards and perform at the highest level of excellence although it took him 13 years before being promoted. He was told again and again after every Performance Evaluation, "You need just three more months of experience," for 13 years.

From 1963 to 1964, Von performed alone on the USNS Range Tracker. During that time, he supported "Project Mercury."

During 1965 and 1966, while supporting "Gemini," he maintained an inventory of 18,000 line items, duties that a designated Supervisor would perform, yet, he was not promoted to Supervisor nor paid the appropriate wage.

During 1967 to 1968, he still acted in a Supervisory capacity and prepared others for their next higher positions, including working after-hours, assigning them tasks to improve their knowledge of the Supply System and share all of his training and knowledge he gained over the years he was not promoted until finally promoted to Logistics Supervisor, Contracter of Defense with the NAVSE (Naval Sea Systems Command and Lockeed Martin until he retired in 2013.

From 1968 through 1969, he performed alone on the Range Tracker. The workload was tremendous.

AWARDS:

AEGIS Excellence Award for Outstanding Performance Presented to In-Service Engineer Team

(Under the direction of NSWC Port Hueneme division, Von helped design new procedures and complex automated schedules)

Martin Marietta Service Lightening Award for Superior Performance

(Von's critical mission area of logistical support played a major role in ensuring all weapon components met their assigned test objectives).

Department of Defense Managers for Manned Space Flight Support Operations

(Von made a significant contribution to the process of the United States in the realm of manned Space Flight through service in support of the Apollo program.)

Project Apollo 8 Award

(Von supported the flight of Apollo 8 launched on December 21, 1968 accomplishing these historical events: First Manned Saturn Launch, First Manned Lunar Orbit Mission.)

Throughout his life he had many dogs and was an avid reader who enjoyed talking about politics/ current events with his daughter almost every day. He also was a diver and has a huge collection of shells that he meticulously put the name, origin and date on cue cards.

After retirement, he enjoyed gardening and continued to ride his bike until he could no longer due to his failing health. Even so, he never complained and never let his family down as he remained the glue that kept us all together and cheerfully provided for his family's needs and wants. He never failed to say "Good morning" every single day of his life.

His kindness will be greatly missed but he will NEVER be forgotten.

He is survived by his wife, Lois Jean Zanders, his son, Eric Von Zanders and his wife, Lisa Sanchez and their children; Von's beautiful and successful grandchildren, Elijah and Shea. His sisters, Pat Thomas, Debbie Bell, and Jackie Polk. His brother-in-law, Michael Anderson, his nieces, Stacey, Stephani and Heather

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