Zdenka Seiner Griswold
August 28, 1956 ~ April 27, 2025
Born in: Prague, Czech Republic
Resided in: Portland, Maine
Zdenka Seiner Griswold, 68, died April 27, 2025, at home in Portland, Maine with family by her side following a July 2024 diagnosis of endometrial cancer. Born in Prague, Czech Republic, on August 28, 1956, she grew up in Prague and Vienna. Her family moved to New York City when she was 11 years old, and though her roots were in Prague, she called New York City home. She attended the UN International School from grade six through high school and Sophia University International College in Tokyo while her father, an international lawyer, worked in Tokyo. She received a BA in English and American Literature from Brown University in 1978, an MPA from Baruch College/City University of New York in 1982, and a JD from Fordham University in 1992, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the International Law Journal.
She met Jack, her life partner and husband of 35 years, while working with refugee organizations in New York, after having spent the early years of her career as a refugee and immigration advocate in Washington D.C. Upon finishing law school, she became a derivatives lawyer at Hughes Hubbard and Reed, a New York law firm, and later at Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers.
She and Jack moved to Portland, Maine in 2007. From 2009 to 2016 the two of them sailed around the world on their Valiant 42 sailboat, Kite. They explored over forty countries along the way, including numerous islands in the South Pacific, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and South Africa. Zdenka especially loved her time in Cartagena, the San Blas islands off Panama, the Galapagos, and stunning Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas. She and Jack watched the Tamure during the Heiva Festival in Tahiti; walked the Milford Track; drift dived the crystal-clear waters of Cocos Keeling; and climbed the tallest mountain in the Indian Ocean on Reunion Island.
Closer to home, she and Jack sailed extensively along the Maine coast, up and down the Eastern Seaboard, throughout the Bahamas, and in Bermuda, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland. Their land travels included frequent visits to Prague and the Czech Republic as well as trips throughout Europe. They skied in Utah, cruised the Nile, fell in love with Spain, and hiked the Ecuadorian Andes.
Beginning in her youth, Zdenka was an avid hiker and mountain climber, scaling multiple peaks, including the Matterhorn, Mont Blanc, Mt. Fuji, Triglav, Mt. Whitney, and Mt. Washington. During high school she climbed in the Shawangunks near New Paltz, New York. While living in Japan, she was active with the Japanese Alpine Club, mountaineering and skiing in the Japanese Alps. At age 66 she climbed Katahdin solo in one day; her skeptical husband stayed home.
Zdenka was an active and valued member of both the Cruising Club of America and the Ocean Cruising Club. She was editor of Voyages, the CCA club magazine, from 2017 to 2021, and served on the Boston Membership Committee and the Awards Committee. She was awarded the Vilas Literary Prize, the Circumnavigation Award, and the Commodore’s Award.
At OCC she served in many roles, including Roving Rear Commodore, Port Officer, General Committee Member, Rear Commodore, and Vice Commodore. She received the OCC Award for valuable service.
Zdenka lived a marvelous life. She was blessed with much good fortune, a loving family, and loyal friends from across the country and around the world. She felt extraordinarily lucky to have found her soulmate in Jack. Together they built a wondrous life, seeing, experiencing, and doing much more than they could have imagined or hoped for. She was grateful for it all.
Few things in a sailor’s life are worse than seasickness and Zdenka would succumb on rough ocean passages. Yet no matter how terrible the conditions or how horrible she felt, she always stood her watch. And so with her life, she always stood her watch. She was open-hearted, kind, whip smart, adventurous, and a lifelong learner who was always generous with her time, her laughter, and her friendship. She will be deeply missed by the wide circle of family, friends, and colleagues whose lives she touched.
She is survived by her husband Jack, mother Dagmar Drahoslava Seiner, brother Yan (Kiki) Seiner, brother-in-law Brehon (Kate) Griswold, nieces Akari (Alec Aversa) Seiner and Kitty Griswold, nephew Jason Seiner, and cousin Alzbeta (Lukas) Trojanova.
A celebration of her life will be held in the near future.
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Sweet Zdenka, it’s hard to imagine that you’re gone. I will miss you, miss our chats over coffee and delicious pastries, miss hearing about the adventures you and Jack embarked on. You shared so much with so many people, and I’m grateful to have been a little part of your big world.
My heartfelt condolences and my love to Jack, to your dear mother, your brother and your family. I will never forget you Zdenka!❤️
Deborah Boyajian
Bill and Willi Nelligan
Portland, Maine