Kathleen Shirley Zinck ( Smith; July 14, 1961 – October 1, 2022) was a Canadian curler. She won the Tournament of Hearts national women's championship in 1982.

Early life

Zinck was born in

Truro, Nova Scotia Truro (Mi'kmaq: ''Wagobagitik''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Truru'') is a town in central Nova Scotia, Canada. Truro is the shire town of Colchester County and is located on the south side of the Salmon River floodplain, close to the river's mouth at ...

, the daughter of Russell Smith and Helen MacDonald. She grew up in Truro, where she graduated high school at the Cobequid Education Centre.

Career

As a junior curler, Zinck won two provincial junior championships in 1978 and 1980. In 1978, she led her Nova Scotia rink of Krista Gatchell,

Cathy Caudle Cathy Walter, née Caudle (born c. 1961) is a Canadians, Canadian former curling, curler. She is a and . Awards *Scotties Tournament of Hearts#All-Star teams, STOH All-Star Team: . Teams References External links

* * Living peopl ...

and Peggy Wilson to a 6–4 record at the

Canadian Junior Curling Championships The Canadian Junior Curling Championships is an annual curling tournament held to determine the best junior-level curling team in Canada. Junior level curlers must be under the age of 21 as of June 30 in the year prior to the tournament. The even ...

, good enough for a tie for third place. In 1980, she led the same team to a national junior championship, defeating Manitoba in the final, and finished the event with a 9–2 record. Two years later, while attending at

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the fou ...

, Zinck joined the

Colleen Jones Colleen Patricia Jones (born December 16, 1959) is a Canadian curler and television personality. She is best known as the skip of two women's world championship teams and six Tournament of Hearts Canadian women's championships, including an un ...

rink as her

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

. The team won the Nova Scotia provincial women's championship in 1982, and went on to represent the province at the national

Tournament of Hearts The Scotties Tournament of Hearts (''french: Le Tournoi des Cœurs Scotties''; commonly referred to as the Scotties) is the annual Canadian women's curling championship, sanctioned by Curling Canada, formerly called the Canadian Curling Associat ...

. There, the team won the championship, and went on to represent Canada at the 1982 World Women's Curling Championship. At the Worlds, the team lost both of their tiebreaker matches, and missed the playoffs. Zinck would go on to graduate from Dalhousie with a degree in physiotherapy. As a member of the Jones rink, Zinck won three more provincial titles, in 1993, 1994 and 1996. Playing

second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

on the team, they finished with a 6–5 record at the

1993 Scott Tournament of Hearts The 1993 Scott Tournament of Hearts Canadian women's national curling championship, was played February 27 to March 6 at the Keystone Centre in Brandon, Manitoba. Teams Standings Results Draw 1 Draw 2 Draw 3 Draw 4 Draw ...

, tied for fourth. In 1994, Zinck was the third on the team again, and they finished with a 4–7 record at the

. At the

1996 Scott Tournament of Hearts The 1996 Scott Tournament of Hearts Canadian women's national curling championship, was played February 17 to 25 at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Ontario, skipped by Marilyn Bodogh won the title, defeating Alberta's Cheryl Kul ...

, the team made it to a tiebreaker match after finishing the round robin with a 6–5 record. After beating British Columbia in the first tiebreaker, they lost to Manitoba in the second. Zinck left the team the next season, but won provincial titles as a skip in 2000 and 2005. At the

2000 Scott Tournament of Hearts The 2000 Scott Tournament of Hearts Canadian women's national curling championship, was played at the CN Centre in Prince George, British Columbia February 19–27. Kelley Law and her British Columbia team won the final defeating Anne Merklinger o ...

, she led her rink of

Heather Smith-Dacey Heather Smith (born September 21, 1972 in Sackville, New Brunswick) is a Canadian curler from Fall River, Nova Scotia. While married to Brier champion Mark Dacey, she was known as Heather Smith-Dacey. She is currently the alternate on Team A ...

, Krista Bernard and

Laine Peters Laine Peters ronounced: LAY-nee(born March 24, 1970 in Arborfield, Saskatchewan) is a Canadian curler, from Calgary. Peters has played in 11 Tournament of Hearts and six World Championships. She is currently the coach of the Tabitha Peterson r ...

to a 7–4 round robin record. This put them in a tiebreaker against BC's

Kelley Law Kelley may refer to: * Kelley (name), a given name and surname Places ;United States * Kelley, Iowa * Kelley Hill in Fort Benning, Georgia * Kelley Park, in San Jose, California * Kelley Square, in Worcester, Massachusetts * Kelley Township, Ri ...

rink, which they lost, settling for fifth place. At the

2005 Scott Tournament of Hearts The 2005 Scott Tournament of Hearts, the Canadian women's curling championship, was held at Mile One Stadium in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador from February 19 to 27, 2005. The tournament included 12 teams, one from each of Canada's provi ...

, she led her team of

Mary Mattatall Mary Mattatall (born April 22, 1960, in Halifax, Nova Scotia) is a Canadian curler and coach from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Career Juniors Mattatall won the 1979 Nova Scotia junior women's title with teammates Faith Tregunno, Susan McCurdy and De ...

, Candice Mittelstadt and

Monica Moriarty Monica may refer to: People *Monica (actress) (born 1987), Indian film actress *Monica (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Monica (singer) (born 1980), American R&B singer, songwriter, producer, ...

to a 5–6 record, missing the playoffs. Zinck also won a provincial mixed title in 1991, playing third for Myers. The team represented Nova Scotia at that year's

Canadian Mixed Curling Championship The Canadian Mixed Curling Championship is the national curling championship for mixed curling in Canada. The winners of the tournament will represent Canada at the World Mixed Curling Championship. In mixed curling, the positions on a team must a ...

, where they finished with a 4–7 record.

Personal life

Zinck worked as a physiotherapist. Zinck was married and had three children. She died on October 1, 2022 at the

Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, is a large teaching hospital and Level 1 Trauma Centre affiliated with Dalhousie University. The QEII cares for adult patients. Pediatric patients within the region are c ...

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

, at the age of 61.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zinck, Kay 1961 births 2022 deaths Canadian women's curling champions Curlers from Nova Scotia Dalhousie University alumni Canadian physiotherapists People from Windsor, Nova Scotia Sportspeople from Halifax, Nova Scotia