Zygmunt Mark Kwasnica

December 9, 1946 – June 30, 2026

Zygmunt Mark Kwasnica, 79, passed away peacefully at his home, Mirabella retirement community at ASU, on June 30, after a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease and a shorter battle with pancreatic cancer. By his side for 57 years was his loving wife, Sharon (Tomaszewski) Kwasnica.

Zyg was born in Krakow, Poland on December 9, 1946, to the late Stanislaw and Stefania (Drozdz) Kwasnica.  He immigrated to Chicago with his parents in 1964 and soon after was drafted into the U.S. Army. He briefly served his new country at Fort Irwin near Barstow, CA, then returned to Chicago for college.  He graduated from Chicago Technical College with a B.S. in Architectural Engineering in 1970. During college, Zyg met and fell in love with Sharon, while they both worked at the Federal Reserve in Chicago. They were married in February 1969, started a family soon after, and moved to Arizona in 1971.

Zyg worked for Madison Industries for 20 years before he decided to start his own firm.  In 1992, he founded the fuel-station architectural and design firm K Engineering and Design, LLC.  After almost three decades of hard work to make his firm extremely successful, his Parkinson’s forced him to retire and sell the company in 2021.

Prior to his health decline, Zyg and Sharon loved to travel, especially to Europe, including several trips with children and grandchildren to Poland to show them his homeland.  He was an avid sports fan and former season ticket holder for the Phoenix Coyotes and Arizona Cardinals. For many years, Zyg loved road cycling, and enjoyed riding and racing with friends on Team Strada.  Up until his last months, he was still talking about his desire to fix up an old bike and ride.  Later in life, Zyg became somewhat of an amateur art collector, and he filled the beautiful home that he designed with art. Zyg’s many other interests and hobbies included listening to jazz music, attending different types of performances and shows, sailing, running, and camping and hiking when his family was young. He always loved to learn about and try new things.

In addition to his wife Sharon, Zyg is survived by and was very proud of his daughter Tina Kwasnica, and husband Kevin Theodorou, of Phoenix; his son Tony Kwasnica and wife Julie, of Tallahassee, FL; and four grandchildren: Brandon Theodorou (and wife Katie), Alex Theodorou, Anna Kwasnica and Marlee Kwasnica. He is also survived by his older sister Halina Dembowski of Schaumburg, IL.

Family and friends are invited to a  funeral mass  at All Saints Catholic Newman Center, 230 E University Drive, Tempe, on Saturday, July 4 at 10:00 am, and the reception following at Mirabella, 65 E University Drive.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center.