Nick Zizo

If teaching is a calling, then a great teacher’s lessons do not end when the last school day is done.

Nicholas J. Zizo passed away on Aug. 28, 2026 in Clearwater. He was 69.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, Sept. 26 starting at 10 a.m. at Morgan-Kaduk Funeral Home in New Port Richey, FL. Details are below.

Born Jan. 30, 1957 in New York, Nick Zizo graduated from high school in North Merrick and went to SUNY Cortland before graduating at SUNY Stonybrook. His father hoped he’d become a lawyer, but Nick’s passion was history. Teaching was his calling, and fate decided that his lessons should go to the students who needed them the most – and not just history and government, but lessons about making your way in life. He frequently found himself working with at-risk youngsters – first at a group home and an alternative high school in New York in the 80s and 90s, and then at a behavioral health program and finally in the Pasco County School District when he moved his family to Florida in 1995.

After working at The Harbor, Nick taught middle school social studies at Seven Springs Middle School before helping to open Chasco Middle School in New Port Richey. Aside from teacher social studies, he coached almost every sport at the two middle schools – football, soccer, basketball, volleyball. He loved teaching kids not only the fundamentals of the sport, but the importance of being a good sports person.

Nick tried to impart those same lessons to his three children, Christie, Alex and James, whether while coaching their little league teams or teaching them his other passion: gaming. Nick loved games: board games, card games, and especially miniature wargaming, which became the creative expression of his love for history. He painstakingly researched armies and battles and painted the little metal or resin soldiers meticulously for his armies, and he crafted scenarios for games.

In crafting those game scenarios, he also crafted lifelong friendships. He could be notoriously anti-social, but he did relish the friendships he gained from the conventions he attended for decades.

But above all, Nick loved his family: his wife of 47 years, Elizabeth, who he met at Stonybrook; his three children, and his two grandchildren. Family was most important to Nick, and that was a lesson he taught over and over again. Family comes first. Maybe it was his greatest lesson.

Celebration of Life details:

The Celebration of Life for Nick Zizo will be Saturday, Sept. 26 at:Morgan-Kaduk Funeral Home

6025 Trouble Creek Rd.

New Port Richey

Please come at 10 a.m. We will gather for a memorial service at 11 a.m., followed by a potluck reception. There will be some food, as well as water, coffee and iced tea, but please bring something if you can. NOTE: The funeral home has warming trays and chafing dishes, but there is no stove or oven if you need to warm things up.

After the reception, Nick’s friend Jeff Baumal will run a miniature wargame that he and Nick ran for years at conventions: The Wind and the Lion. Feel free to stay and play one last game with Nick. We will also have board games available for people who wish to play those too. We will have access to the hospitality room until the evening.

In lieu of flowers, please bring regular live green plants that we can plant in Nick’s honor (Liz is allergic to flowers). Alternatively, you may also donate in Nick’s memory to the following nonprofits:

SPCA Suncoast, which is where our family has adopted many pets over the years: https://spcasuncoast.com/

K9s for Warriors, combining Nick’s love of dogs and support for veterans: https://k9sforwarriors.org/

National Kidney Foundation of Florida, as Nick suffered from chronic kidney disease in the last years of his life: https://kidneyfl.org/