John Maxim Zanetti

John Maxim Zanetti, 74, of Walker Farms in Arkansaw, Wisconsin passed away peacefully on November 30th, 2017 surrounded by family and loved ones.
Raised by first generation Italian-American immigrant parents in Torrington, Connecticut, John’s brilliant mind was recognized early on by his teachers and family who encouraged him to become the first in his family to graduate college from Fairfield University in Connecticut. He went on to earn a master’s degree from Boston University. After receiving a full scholarship offer from Harvard University, John decided to travel cross country to pursue his doctoral studies in physics from the University of California Berkeley.
John focused his studies in geophysics/seismology and, after leaving Berkeley, John met and started a family with Pamela Roodhouse and her son, Christopher. John took a hiatus from his academic work and became a vineyard manager at Domaine Chandon in Yountville, California, all while raising goats and maintaining Green Ark farm in nearby Napa. While in Napa, John and Pamela had son, Matthew and daughter, Jeannie.
In 1980, John and family moved to Long Lake, Minnesota where they adopted son, Ben and daughter, Katherine from Korea. Soon after, their youngest son, John was born. There John Sr. took up his scientific work once again, fusing his study of seismology with cardiology. John founded the Minneapolis-based medical device company, Seismed Instruments, which developed breakthrough biomedical technologies to monitor heart function using vibration science. John held multiple patents for these technologies which continue to be foundational to the
advancement of cardiac diagnostics. John and Pamela separated yet continued to co-parent their six children.
After meeting and falling in love with his life partner Susan Yerigan, John and Susan established Walker Farms and eventually moved to Arkansaw, Wisconsin in 2002. A thriving herbal tincture business for the last 20 years, John and Susan put Walker Farms on the map for creating fresh medicinal plant medicines. Until his death, John remained a sought after expert advisor in the field of Seismocardiology.
John was a beloved friend and neighbor and his brilliance never dimmed. Locals affectionately referred to him as “Einstein”, often sending someone to fetch him when there was some intractable mechanical or engineering issue to solve. While often understated, John was a fierce believer of equality and justice, and even
from a young age was innately accepting of all people regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or political views. He was a lover of all living things and was a particularly gifted gardener. His tomato plants and zinnia flowers were legendary. John felt most at home living close to the land and had a deep connection to the coulee and ridge landscape of western Wisconsin.
John is survived by Susan Yerigan, and children John, Jeannie, Matt, Katie, Chris, and Ben. There will be no service; however, in memory of John, please make donations to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation at https://www.themmrf.org