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This is an incredibly sad story but still needs to be shared because Greg Zanis' work spans beyond mass shootings. He also made a cross in honor of fallen Rockford Police Officer Jaimie Cox, which you can see here.

Greg is living in hospice care after being diagnosed with bladder cancer in late 2019. And, according to WGN-Chicago, although he was given years to live his health has rapidly declined. Obviously, he's devastated by this.

"I’m very, very devastated with the whole thing. I can’t stand the thought of doing nothing,” the self-professed workaholic told CNN during a phone interview, the medications reducing his normally booming voice to sotto voce.

Greg used his carpentry skills well beyond retirement with his "Crosses for Losses" effort through which he made more than 25,000 crosses to be placed in locations of mass shootings and other tragic events across the United States. WGN reports his last stop being Saugus High School in Santa Clarita in California, where he placed two crosses.

One of Greg's daughter has a "living visitation" planned.

With Illinois under stay-at-home orders amid the coronavirus pandemic, it’s not safe for Zanis to accept visitors. His daughter, Susie, plans to host a “living visitation” Friday so folks can come say hello and goodbye from the yard, and Zanis will greet them from the front porch window. Signs expressing fond wishes and memories are encouraged.

The article shared by WGN is long but worth reading to learn more about the man that honored people he never met in an effort to bring comfort to their loved ones and their community. Read it here.


JB Love is ½ of  Q98.5's Lil Zim & JB In The Morning, weekday mornings from 5:00 a.m. to 10 a.m. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram.

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