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Mr. Barcevac, age 30, passed away early Thursday morning at St. Paul Hospital in Dallas.  He was born in Chicago, Ill., to Joseph P. and Mary Lou (Cusson) Barcevac.  Zack was a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church.  He volunteered in various pro-life organizations and was involved in the young marriage ministry both at St. Joseph's and St. Mary's in College Station.  He was a Third Degree member of the Knights of Columbus Council No. 8417, Waxahachie.  In the Knights, he was church directory and newly elected deputy grand knight.  Zack was involved with the Northwest Texas Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Council.  He was a math lecturer at Texas A&M University for three years.

He is survived by his wife, Erin Barcevac of Waxahachie; his parents, Joseph and Mary Lou Barcevac of Ovilla; grandmother, Mary Ann Barcevac of Ovilla; mother-in-law, Judy Fernald of Houston; father-in-law, Greg Fernald of El Campo, Texas; sister-in-law, Shelley Fernald of Omaha, Neb.; Godparents, Gilbert Cusson of Whiting, Ind., and Jeannine Cusson of Lansing, Ill.; numerous aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.  He was preceded in death by his sister, Allison Barcevac in February 2001.

A Scripture Service was held at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 22, 2002, in the Pat Boze Memorial Chapel of the Wayne Boze Funeral Home.  The Rosary was held at 7 p.m. Sunday at Bishop Thomas Tschoepe Parish Family Center at St. Joseph Catholic Church.  The Mass of Christian Burial was at 10 a.m. Monday, June 24, 2002, at St. Joseph Catholic Church with Father Mark Seitz, Celebrant, and Father David Konderla as Homilist.  Pallbearers were Paul Branham, Raymond Hunnicutt, David Kohut, Joseph Pettibon, Curt Gulde and David Bereit.  Interment followed at Holy Redeemer Cemetery.

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Below is an article from the Waxahachie Daily Light that was written in 2001 after Zack's double lung transplant:

A new breath of life Organ donation gives local man new chance at life By JOANN LIVINGSTON Daily Light staff writer
It's a gift Zack Barcevac will never take for granted. Barcevac, who was born with cystic fibrosis, received a double lung transplant April 17. “It's been what, 51, 52 days?” he asked during an interview Thursday from his hospital bed at St. Paul Medical Center, where he had been readmitted for a minor infection. “I do think about them as my lungs,” the 29-year-old from Waxahachie said, signifying the union that has been made between his body and another's gift of life.
“I've reflected a lot on the donor and the family, and what they had to go through,” he said.  Barcevac doesn't know the identity of the donor and can only guess what his or her family went through with their loss. “And to have to make the decision to make an organ donation on top of dealing with that sudden grief … ,” his voice trailed off. “I can only imagine that it was difficult.” He prays for the donor and family every day. “I hope they find healing and consolation,” he said. “My appreciation is forever. … I keep the donor in mind and I want to make sure that I take care of this gift because I don't plan on repeating this. I have to do everything I can to take care of them and make sure this gift was not given in vain. Hopefully, this is my first and last.” Lungs are typically the hardest set of organs to donate because they are so easily damaged. Barcevac feels, because he was a recipient of a double-lung transplant, that the donor probably also was able to provide other organs, as well. “I am sure I am not the only to benefit from this donor's gift,” he said. Barcevac and his younger sister, Allison, both were born with cystic fibrosis, a genetic lung disease that causes repeated lung infections and scarring. Repeated infections lead to scarring which leads to more infections. “Once it gets into the pneumonia cycle, it's a vicious cycle,” Barcevac said. “There's a lot of genetics behind it.” His sister began fighting the more serious aspects of disease at an earlier age than him, from about junior high on. Roughly 10 years into her battle, she received a double lung transplant March 31, 2000. “Right around December, she got a virus from somewhere and it just destroyed her new lungs. They weren't able to get another set of lungs for her fast enough to do another transplant,” he said. “She died Feb. 1. She was 22 years old.” Allison also had sustained some nerve damage during the transplant procedure that led not only to lung but also to stomach problems. “The main nerve leading to her stomach was disturbed,” he said. “It never quite worked properly afterward. Her oral medications could not be processed properly and food also was a problem. That led to some of the trouble.” Still, overall, the transplant improved Allison's quality of life for a while. “She was much more mobile and independent after, than before,” Barcevac said. “She definitely had an improvement in her quality of life.” He's experienced the same improvement in his. “I feel quite a bit different,” he said. “I'm much more mobile. I'm able to walk around without an oxygen tank and my energy level is much higher.” Following about a 5 1/2-hour surgery, Barcevac returned home to begin recuperating. “They had me monitoring all sorts of things at home – my blood pressure, pulse, my weight and temperature, and also my lung functions with this little machine. I blow in it and if the numbers start going down, it's a cause for concern,” he said, noting that the weekend in question he wasn't feeling well and the numbers “weren't quite right.” He went in for an appointment, with a decision made to hospitalize him. There it was determined he had a small infection in his lungs and around a semi-permanent IV in his chest. The infection was treated and the IV was replaced; his hospitalization was expected to be brief. “We got everything early, so it shouldn't be too big of a deal,” he said. Barcevac didn't develop serious problems from the cystic fibrosis until about age 25. Up until then he was active, including playing racquetball. The only real problem he had was a typical one associated with cystic fibrosis – trouble with his pancreas. With this related condition, enzymes from the pancreas don't get to the intestines, making it more difficult for cystic fibrosis patients to absorb the nutrition they need. “The main thing for me was being underweight as a kid,” he said, noting that is typical for people with cystic fibrosis. “Even now I can wolf down the fat and not show it the next day.” Doctors with cystic fibrosis patients encourage them to be as active as possible. “They want you doing as many things as possible,” he said. “The more active you are, the better you are.” Barcevac was first hospitalized in the fall 1997. In the summer 1999 he was evaluated for a transplant and put on the list. “It was about a 20-month wait,” he said. “When your odds of living are better with a transplant than without, they want you on the transplant list. They don't want to do it until it is really necessary.” He was able to continue working as a math lecturer at Texas A&M University until the summer 2000 when he went on disability. With the transplant, he intends to resume teaching. His wife, Erin, graduated in May from A&M with her veterinary degree and has gone into practice in DeSoto. “We'll be staying in the area. I'm looking at a position at one of the community colleges,” he said. A main goal is to regain the physical strength he has lost from the inactivity of the past several years and return to playing racquetball, with his sights set on making the racquetball team for the Transplant Olympics. “I do want to get back into it,” he said. “I'm very competitive and I do want to push myself into getting back into playing condition this year and the year after that trying out for the Transplant Olympics. After being sick for the better part of three or four years, my lungs are ready to go and my body's trying to catch up. They're not used to working out that much because they haven't been.” Barcevac is on a variety of medicines. “There were a lot before, and there's a lot after. They've just changed,” he said. “The first month after the transplant, I took breathing treatments. Now, I'm just exercising and being very careful about the people I'm around for the first few months – I can't be around anybody who's sneezing, coughing, sniffling, etc. After about three months, I can resume a more active, social lifestyle.” Barcevac wants to encourage people to consider organ donation and reminds them that talking to their family is critical. “Organ donation is probably one of the greatest gifts you can give,” he said. “The thing to keep in mind is that, even if an organ donor card is signed, it is not sufficient to have that alone if you die. “You've got to talk about it with your family, who is ultimately making the decision for you. Someone from the organ bank will ask, but if your family doesn't know your wishes and if they've never thought about it … . They're dealing with sudden grief and chances are, if they haven't thought about it, they will not do it,” he said. “If you've talked about it with them, then it's easier for them to say, ‘Let’s donate. This is what they would have wanted and this is what we are going to do.’”