YA' Aqoub Ziso

Ya’aquob Ziso also known as Ya’aqov Ziso was born on August 19, 1951 in Bucharest, Romania and died on Monday, March 30, 2026 at the Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, Illinois USA. He will be missed by his friends and family members.
Ya’aqov was preceded in death by his parents, Pinchas Ziso and Sally Ziso.
He is survived by his sister Madlen; niece Ronit Weiner and nephew Zvika Schwartz. Great nephews Roei, Ophir, Yuval, Itay; and Great nieces Liron and Dana, all of Israel.
He attended the University of Tel Aviv, Israel and served in the military. He then attended the University of Illinois at Urbana as a Fulbright Scholar and attained a Masters degree in Music. He studied with Herbert Brün and was a member of  Brün’s seminar and the Performers Workshop Ensemble, exploring composition and social change. He also earned another Masters degree in Library and  Information Science. He pursued careers in music composition and in libraries, first as a cataloger and later as a system analyst.
He worked as a system analyst in Israel and libraries at various universities in the US. In 2017 he retired and started volunteering and working as a community organizer in Montana and Haifa. He recently returned to the US and lived in Urbana where he composed music and travelled to Chicago on most weekends to be with his girlfriend, Natalie, whom he loved and treasured.
He was an avid music composer and was working on a piece called ‘Dreaming Breaths’ informed by observing and listening to Natalie breathing.
Ya’aqov was well informed and fascinated by people and their experiences. His love of discussion meant that he could find common ground and converse easily with all he met, be it in the store, restaurant or at the doctor’s office.
He had a rich life filled with stories and jokes his family and friends will share for years to come.

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