Zane D. Parzen

Zane Parzen, Psychiatrist, Engineer, and Lifelong Learner, Dies



Zane Parzen, a man of wide-ranging intellect and restless curiosity, died on June 10, 2026. He was 92.



Born in 1933, the son of Eastern European immigrants Ethel Levy and Louis Dribin, Zane’s early life was shaped by loss and renewal. After his father’s death, his mother married Rabbi Maurice Parzen, who adopted Zane as his own son — giving him both a name and a second father.



Drawn early to the life of the mind, Parzen pursued medicine at the University of Chicago, going on to become a psychoanalyst in La Jolla, California, where he earned a reputation as a skilled and insightful clinician. He had four sons: Aaron, Tad, Micah, and Jeremy.



Later in life, Parzen reinvented himself with characteristic energy, pivoting to a second career in avionics systems integration, contributing to the work of McDonnell Douglas, Elbit Systems, and RADA. He was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and remained engaged with ideas — aerophysics, Israeli politics, the recording arts — well into his later years. In his final chapter he found happiness in a second marriage, to Tanya, whom he wed on April 1, 2014. The years of their marriage were the happiest of his life.



Those who knew him described a man who remained sharp, opinionated, and genuinely alive to the world around him.



He is survived by his wife Tanya; his sons Tad, Micah, and Jeremy, their spouses, and his grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his son Aaron.