Biography

Dr. Stevanov was born in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia on June 25, 1945. Post WWII Yugoslavia was difficult and his parents, Gabriel and Juila decided to emigrate to the United States when Zoran was two years old. The laws at the time forced them to spend four years in Italy before entering. After receiving acceptance to the USA, the Stevanovs settled in Michigan where Zoran would spend his most childhood.

Later his family relocated to Orlando where he met his future spouse Teodora. He was married to his wife for 43 years. They have three children; Donald, Adrian, and Max. Stevanov had six grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

Dr. Stevanov enjoyed SCUBA diving in the caves and springs in Florida. He was SCUBA diving when the equipment was first new. He told stories of using milk junks to ascend. In 2004 he obtained his technical cave diver certification. He made dives all over the world from Cenotes in Mexico to sunken ships in the South Pacific

He also enjoyed fencing, and tennis. He was a national qualifier in fencing in 1982 and started the Sabre Fencing Club at Fort Hays State University in 1994-2015. The club met on Wednesday and focused on classical martial arts fencing. Often avoiding modern electric fencing equipment in order to preserve technique and form. He often drew parallels between fencing and tennis with back hands to back cuts.

Stevanov died September 4, 2018 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Zoran died after a complications from a cardiac event during a SCUBA diving trip at the Blue Hole in Santa Rosa, NM Sunday September 2nd. His friend and former student Matthew Carver was with him at the time and swam him to shore where he was transported to Albuquerque.