Walter Zant, longtime warden of Georgia prisons

By RICK BADIE

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Walter and Claire Zant wanted their children to grow up in a small town.

The couple had lived in Atlanta once and didn’t cotton to it. So when Mr. Zant was named deputy commissioner for the state Department of Corrections, the family stayed put. He commuted from Jackson to the Twin Towers in downtown Atlanta, every day for several years.

“He’s one of those who gives more than 100 percent, so he’d leave early in the morning,” said Claire Robertson Zant, his wife of 39 years. “He made the sacrifice. He had a lot of 12-hour days.”

Before law enforcement, Mr. Zant had been an educator. He earned a master’s degree in special education at Valdosta State College. He taught special education at Lowndes Junior High and worked as a counselor at the Lowndes Correctional Institute in Valdosta.

At 28, he was named warden at the Lowndes Correctional Institution, the youngest person at that time to hold the position, his wife said. He also served as warden of the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Center, a maximum-security prison in Jackson.

With Mr. Zant, asking “How was work today?” wasn’t the ideal conversation starter. His wife understood.

“A lot of things went on inside the prisons,” she said. “He didn’t like to talk about it when he came home.”

Walter Daniel Zant, 64, of Jackson died Friday of cancer at Heartland Hospice House in Macon. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. today at Jackson United Methodist Church. Haisten Funeral Home of Jackson is handling arrangements.

Mr. Zant retired in 1996, but he didn’t stop working. He started ZSI Probation Service Inc. in his home and grew it to include operations in Barnesville, Griffin and Stockbridge.

He was a three-time state champion as a fullback for the Valdosta High Wildcats. He attended camp and served as a counselor at the Athens Y Camp for Boys in Tallulah Falls. He kept bees and enjoyed woodworking, hunting, fishing and camping.

Joe Brown of Jackson, a family friend, has known Mr. Zant more than 30 years. They had an understanding.

“He didn’t golf with me,” Mr. Brown said, laughing, “and I didn’t hunt and fish with him.” On a serious note, he said Mr. Zant was a “supreme family man.”

“He got to see his last two kids get married,” Mr. Brown said, “and he was satisfied with that. He said his life was complete.”

Additional survivors include three sons, Dan Zant of Madison, Ben Zant of Kennesaw and Will Zant of Sandy Springs; a daughter, Jenny Cofield of Boston; a sister, Elanor Brunot of Loganville; a brother, Eddie Zant of Shalimar, Fla.; and four grandchildren.