HEMET: Local resident remembered after fatal motorcycle accident

Joseph Zinck, pictured on the far right, poses with family members in an undated photograph. Zinck was killed in an off-road motorcycle accident in Big Bear. Zinck family photo

HEMET – Joseph Zinck, a 44-year-old Hemet resident was recently laid to rest after he died in a tragic, off-road motorcycle accident. The accident happened in Big Bear Saturday, Nov. 5.

Zinck’s body was found the following day by deer hunters in the area of Crab Flats, east of Lake Arrowhead and west of Big Bear. (See original article.)

CHP officials, who conducted an accident investigation, believe Zinck crashed into a tree while riding his dirt bike, according to a release from the San Bernardino County Coroner’s office.

No one witnessed the crash or Zinck’s death.

Zinck was born in Riverside and grew up in Lake Elsinore. He attended Elsinore Union High School before moving to Hemet.

Zinck’s mother, Clydene Zinck, a resident of Menifee, recently spoke about her son saying, “He was the definition of a good Samaritan. He helped so many people with his skills and would drop everything to help someone in need, no matter who or where they were.”

“His son and daughter are truly the ones who will miss his presence most, but there is a huge part of me that is now gone. He was my first-born, my son, and my best friend,” Clydene said.

At his service many friends, family, and loved ones remembered Zinck as their best friend.

“Joe had a such a zest for life that most people can only dream about,” Clydene recalled. “Joe was not a rich man as far as money goes but with friends and family he was the richest man in the world.”

Zinck’s family is raising money to help with his funeral expenses on gofundme.com. Anyone who wants to help the family is encouraged to visit the attached link to learn how they can help.

From Joseph Zinck’s Press Enterprise obituary:

Joe had an amazingly kind and giving nature that could be surpassed by none. He would give you the shirt off his back or his last dollar if he thought you needed it more.

He touched and improved so many lives with his many skills. He has left this world a better place than he found it and taught others how to do the same.

He was so very talented in most things mechanical, as well as being a jack of all trades and just about all things manly.

He had a passion for everything he did, dirt bikes being at the top of his list. Joe “Rode like his hair was on fire!” He definitely died doing what he loved most.

He was devoted to his family, wife Paula, mother Clydene, father Donald, sons Brandon, Seth and Matthew, daughters Saige and Fancy, brothers Christopher and Richard, sister Amy, grandmother Helen, aunts Charnel and Susie, grandchildren, several cousins, nieces, nephews and many friends.

He will be greatly missed. Rest in peace Joe. “Ribbit”

 

Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg in an off-duty accident.

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including the Robert Presley Detention Center, the Southwest Station in Temecula, the Hemet Station, and the Lake Elsinore Station, along with many other locations.