Dr. John S. Zapp, ADA executive director from 1993–2001, died Oct. 12 after a battle with cancer. He was 73 years old and is survived by his widow, Nancy, three daughters and one son. He was buried Oct. 18 after a private service in Vancouver, Wash. A public memorial was held Nov. 18 in Bethesda, Md.
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Dr. Zapp
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"Our friends in dentistry have helped ease the pain of John’s loss through many expressions of sympathy and kindness," said Nancy Zapp. "I’m grateful that John’s dedication to improving dental health is so widely recognized. He devoted his life to making the lives of others better; it is a consolation to know that he held such a special place on this Earth."
Born in Idaho Sept. 28, 1932, Dr. Zapp spent three years in the U.S. Marine Corps, earning a Purple Heart in the Korean conflict. He received his undergraduate degree in 1957 from Boise College.
Dr. Zapp earned his dental degree in 1961 from Creighton University School of Dentistry, Omaha, Neb. That year, he moved to The Dalles, Ore., where he established a private practice. He also helped lobby successfully for a junior college in the community and was named vice chairman of Oregon’s Community College Governance Committee. The experience spawned a lifelong interest in politics and government, and led him to enroll in a graduate course in political science at Portland State College.
In 1969, Dr. Zapp was named special assistant for dental affairs with the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare (now Health and Human Services).
His government work attracted attention from American Medical Asociation leaders who hired him in 1974 as director of the association’s Department of Congressional Relations. In 1990, he was named AMA vice president for Government Affairs—a post he held until the ADA Board of Trustees appointed him executive director in April 1993.
Dr. Zapp stepped down in March 2001, confident that he was leaving the Association "stronger, more responsive to its members and better organized" than he found it.
Dr. Zapp was one of the founding members of the Friends of the NIDCR (National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research). He served the organization as its president from 2001–2003 and, thereafter, remained an active member of its Executive Committee.
In April 2005, Dr. Zapp was named chairman of the OSAP Foundation (the Organization for Safety and Asepsis Procedures) but stepped down from the post when his health took a turn.
The Zapp family has identified the Organization for Safety and Asepsis Procedures Foundation as the preferred recipient for memorial donations in Dr. Zapp’s name. The mailing address is OSAP Foundation, P.O. Box 6297, Annapolis, Md. 21401. The Foundation’s Web site is "www.osap.org".
