Zdravko Ježić, or Pucko as everyone used to call him, started playing water polo persuaded by his neighborhood friends, the Strmec brothers. Saša Strmec already played water polo in London in 1946, and the older brother Boris was Zdravko’s godfather. Before that, Pucko played handball and did some running, in fact, he was involved in almost all sports. Even later, when he stopped playing water polo, he continued running – in marathons. He was a great player, but also a great man. There are two details that confirm this. He was the flag bearer at the Opening Ceremony of the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki. He had the same function at the Closing Ceremony of the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, an honour which is not bestowed on just anyone. In 1981 he was introduced to the International Water Polo Hall of Fame, the first Croat ever to receive that honour, and as modest as he was, he only found out about it in 1984! And he never bragged about it. We should also mention that he was very involved in Ozren Bonačić’s reception into that company of world legends, writing at least 3 or 4 letters of support and requests. Furthermore, the Hungarians included him amongst the best seven players of world. And as a man? He was perhaps an even greater man, although these categories are hard to measure. Once he lent his friend, Zlatko Šimenc, who was at a time a poor student, a jacket for some ceremonial occasion; Ćos managed to stain it and was embarrassed to return it in that condition. When he finally admitted what had happened, Pucko just waved his hand and said, “Never mind, leave it!”. He was like a big brother to the guys, giving them shoes, ties… When Zdravko Kovačić needed heart surgery in America, it was again Pucko who was most engaged in organizing it. Ježić earned his doctorate in chemistry in Zagreb in 1962, and in October 1964 he left for postgraduate studies in Michigan. By then he was working for OKI, and in America he worked in the renowned chemical giant Dow Chemical. His wife Božena and his young son Boris, born in 1963 accompanyied him across “the great pond”. First they went there on his student visa but after Zdravko died, they remained living there. They say of Pucko that he was a born winner. Although he does not come from a family of athletes, he never lost a battle, apart from his final
one, against prostate cancer. He did not forget his roots while in America, he went to as many as four Olympic Games to watch and cheer for our athletes. People recognized and respected him at these games, which was particularly noticeable during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. As a player, he was diligent, among the first to realize the importance of physical fitness, he bought weights in Russia and created a small gym on his mother’s terrace. He ran up Sljeme, he went cross-country skiing and bathed in the spa as there were no pools in Zagreb at the time. He was third in Croatia in the 200 meters freestyle; ZDRAVKO JEŽIĆ (left) and JURA AMSEL at the 1956 at 185 centimetres tall he was at home in the water, Olympic Games in Melbourne powerful and strong. His specialty in water polo ZDRAVKO ĆIRO KOVAČIĆ (left) and ZDRAVKO JEŽIĆ was his ambidextrous shot, so the opponent’s The Yugoslav national team playing at the 1956 Olympic goalie never knew which side the threat would Games in Melbourne come from. He practised and played some more in Michigan, but that was purely recreational for him. In 2002 he attended a reception with the Croatian president Stjepan Mesić. The occasion was the gathering of all Olympians after Janica Kostelić’s success at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, and on that occasion he received a crystal Croatian coat of arms, something he kept in a special place. He was a rare breed of scholar, a man who spoke five languages, an athlete, an Olympian, a world-renowned chemist, but again so simple, so ordinary, so much his own man, a man who did not forget his roots and whose children, although Americans, speak the Croatian language. His family decided to bury him in Zagreb, at Mirogoj. Date of birth: Aug His ashes were taken from ust 17th, 1931 Pla ce of birth: Niš America to his home soil Died: in 2005 in Ne which he loved so much. w York, USA
Zdravko Ježić
An Athlete and a S
cholar
Occupation: docto r of technological sciences Playing career: 1946 -1961 Mladost Trophies with the national team: – silver at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki – silver at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome Trophies with the club: – Yugoslav Winter Championships: 19 60 and 1961 (Mlad ost)
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