Joseph William "J.W." Zalmanek Jr

March 9, 1936 - July 21, 2020

Joe William (J.W.) Zalmanek, Jr., 84, of Caldwell entered into eternal rest on Tuesday, July 21, 2020. After a brave and courageous battle with lung cancer, J.W. passed away peacefully at home with his family by his side. J.W. was a wonderful husband, father, Pop, and Other Pop. He was born on March 9, 1936, in the Providence community to Lydia Marguerite (Sontag) and Joe William Zalmanek, Sr. He graduated from Caldwell High School in 1955 and joined the U.S. Army Reserves in 1958. He served for six years as part of Battery A of the 49th Field Artillery Battalion. He married his wife of almost 57 years, Barbara Ann Beseda, on August 27, 1960. J.W. was born into a hard-working family and took great pride in looking back at his accomplishments at the end of the day. He worked as a heavy equipment operator with his father from high school until he took ownership of Zalmanek Construction in 1977, where he continued to work until his health declined. The area around Caldwell will long show J.W.’s handiwork in streets, roads, lakes, pastures, and cleared farmland. He was called upon many times to share his knowledge of heavy earth moving machinery and in engines and motors in general. He loved to collect Caterpillar parts and tools, but he really loved teaching his wife to operate the bulldozers. He had many hobbies and when he wasn’t on a dozer pushing dirt, you could find him working on tractors, engines, lawn mowers, and his old red truck. He enjoyed fishing, hunting, arrowhead hunting, watching westerns, and occasionally getting to Las Vegas to put a few coins in the slot machines. He also enjoyed drinking coffee with the guys at the various coffee shops around Caldwell. One of his greatest joys was hanging out with his grandkids and teaching them various life lessons. He wanted to teach them everything he knew and to give them advice. He also loved to watch them participate in their extracurricular activities. He mainly loved just talking to them about anything and everything. He had very fond memories of all of his grandchildren, and he loved sharing those memories with anyone who would listen. He was so proud of his oldest grandson, Rush, for moving to South Korea to teach English. He loved to tell everyone about how he took Rush bird hunting in Van Horn when he was four and he could read the menu at the restaurant to all of the other hunters. He enjoyed the time he spent with his granddaughter Avery as she helped take care of him. He was so impressed with her interest in gardening and cooking and loved when she would bring him vegetables from her garden and food that she had cooked. He loved going to watch his grandson Coleman play football at Houston Baptist University, and he particularly loved getting to tailgate before the games. He was impressed with his grandson Cannon’s archery and marksmanship skills. For the last three years, he lived with his youngest grandson, Will, and enjoyed their special moments as he took Will to school. He loved when his granddaughter Jennifer would come visit, especially because she brought the great-grandchildren who would entertain him for hours. The little great-grands brought him so much joy. Kenleigh would dress up in a princess dress and dance for him. Sweet Caleb would climb up on the bed, hold his hand, and talk to him. He liked watching Braedon and Caleb being rambunctious boys, playing with bumper cars and shooting their BB guns. J.W. is preceded in death by his parents, Lydia and Joe Zalmanek; his wife, Barbara Ann Zalmanek; two infant daughters, Suzanne and Amy Nicole Zalmanek; a nephew, John Worthington, and a brother-in-law, Bill Dillard. Survivors include his two daughters, Janna (Ken) Fisher of Caldwell and Christie (Rusty) Robinson of Centerville; three siblings, JoAnn (Marvin) Worthington and Charles (Jeannie) Zalmanek of Caldwell and Beverly Dillard of Bryan; six grandchildren, Rush, Avery, Coleman, and Cannon Robinson, Jennifer Fisher Warner, and Will Fisher; and three great-grandchildren, Caleb, Braedon, and Kenleigh; numerous nephews, nieces, other relatives, and friends. We would like to offer a special thank you to his coffee drinking buddies, various coffee house employees, and the guys at Motor Supply for their willingness to always rush out and help Dad out of his truck. Your care and concern were noticed and appreciated. Due to the coronavirus, a celebration of J.W.’s life will be held at a later date. Once a date is selected, we will update through friends, family, and social media.