Jack And Patricia Zimmerman

Dr. Jack Evans Zimmerman and Patricia Zellers Zimmerman

Dr. Jack Evans Zimmerman, 86, and his wife, Patricia (“Patti”) Zellers Zimmerman, 86, of Olney, MD, died within two weeks of one another in September 2025. Patti passed away on September 9 from cardiovascular complications, and Jack followed on September 25 after complications related to surgery.

Jack was born October 25, 1938, in Harrisburg, PA. He graduated from the University of Maryland and the George Washington University School of Medicine. A U.S. Navy physician, he served aboard the hospital ship USS Sanctuary during the Vietnam War. He later became a professor of anesthesiology and medicine at GWU, where he served as Director of the Intensive Care Unit and was a pioneering intensivist, helping to develop the APACHE system for critical care evaluation. In 1981, he was part of the medical team that treated President Ronald Reagan after the assassination attempt. He trained and mentored generations of doctors, publishing extensively and serving the field of intensive care for decades.

Patti was born December 16, 1938, in Harrisburg, PA. She graduated from the Polyclinic School of Nursing in Harrisburg in 1959 and worked as a registered nurse. During Jack’s medical education and early career, Patti’s work as a nurse helped support the young family. She later devoted herself to raising their children and creating a home that was warm, generous, and welcoming to all. Patti was known for her deep care for others, her boundless holiday spirit, and her role as a “surrogate mom” to her children’s friends and beyond.

Together, Jack and Patti raised three children — Kim Vincenty (married to Claudio Vincenty), Kathi Kowalski (married to Barry Kowalski), and Thomas Zimmerman (married to Beth Green). They are also survived by grandchildren Ashton Wickstrom, Jack Vincenty, Bailey Kowalski, and Hallie Kowalski, as well as Patti’s sister, Susan Jaffray.

Married for nearly 65 years, Jack and Patti shared a life filled with service, family, travel, gardening, and tradition. They will be remembered together for their devotion to one another, to their children and grandchildren, and to the countless people whose lives they touched through medicine, nursing, hospitality, and love.

A memorial service celebrating their lives will be held on Sunday, November 23, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. at The Lutheran Church of St. Andrew, 15300 New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20905. A reception will follow at a nearby venue.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to Saint Andrews https://www.mystandrew.org/, Sibley Palliative Care https://www.capitalcaring.org/ or Casey House https://montgomeryhospice.org/services/general-inpatient-care/ in their names.