06/02/2026
We lost an amazing friend and client last week. It’s hard to find the right words when someone who shaped so much of what you believe in is no longer here.
Our family has had the privilege of building at Zajac Ranch over the years. Every time we arrived on the property, measured a log, drove a nail, raised a beam, we knew we were building something that mattered far beyond the structure itself. That was Mel’s doing.
Mel Zajac lost two sons. And instead of turning inward, he turned outward and built something that has given thousands of children their first real experience of belonging, joy, and the feeling that they are exactly where they’re supposed to be. That is an extraordinary human being.
To build alongside that kind of legacy, even in a small way, has been one of the honours of our work.
We sat on a bench at the Ranch not long ago and I asked him, Mel you're always happy, tell me your secret. He said "forgive those that hurt you and be kind". Simple yet strong words to live by.
We are sending every bit of love we have to his wife Wendy, to the Zajac family and he entire team at the Ranch, and to every camper and family who carries a piece of what Mel built inside them.
He was 98 years old and he never stopped giving and believing. Rest easy, Mel.
— Josh, Jordan, Rob and the entire Artisan family
