Dennis Paul Zoller, MD, age 76, passed away on August 13, 2026.

A rosary will be said on Friday, September 4 at 6:00 PM at St. Hyacinth Catholic Church, Memorial Mass will be on Saturday, September 5th at 11:00 AM at St. Hyacinth Catholic Church Burial will be in Lovell Cemetery in Lovell, Wyoming.

Dennis Paul Zoller, MD, was born on July 4, 1950, in Harvey, Illinois, to Mildred and Jacob Paul Zoller, Jr. He graduated from St Mary's of the Assumption grade school, Marist High School in Chicago, Aurora College, Aurora, IL and finally  Northwestern University Feinstein School of Medicine in order to pursue a career in medicine. 

On August 2, 1969, Dennis married Catherine “Cathy” Veach at Holy Angels Church in Aurora, IL, and together they built a life centered on family, service, and a shared willingness to follow wherever the next chapter might lead.During his nearly 50-year career in medicine, Dennis moved between private practice and academic medicine, leaving a lasting impression in both. He was a devoted physician whose compassion and commitment to his patients extended far beyond the walls of an exam room. Even decades later, former patients remembered Dr. Zoller and the exceptional care he provided.

Dennis was equally devoted to teaching and mentoring the next generation of physicians. He often reminded his students that although he might move on to another position or another chapter in his career, he would always remain available to them. It was a promise he took seriously. His influence reached far beyond the students he taught and the patients he treated; it lives on in the physicians he mentored, the lessons he shared, and the countless lives touched by his dedication to medicine.

After completing his medical training, Dennis was selected to serve as Chief Resident for his class at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford. Following several years in private practice, he was invited to return to the university and join the faculty, an opportunity that allowed him to combine his gifts as both a physician and an educator. When his mentor later stepped down, Dennis was entrusted with leading the residency program himself—a role that reflected the respect his colleagues had for his knowledge, leadership, and dedication to medical education.

Family trips out West left Dennis with a lasting love for that part of the country and eventually inspired the family to move to Lovell, Wyoming. His father joined them there and spent the final years of his life with Dennis and his family. Following his father’s death, physicians in Billings, Montana, encouraged Dennis to bring his experience to the larger hospitals there. His son, Brian, has remained in Billings, a lasting connection to the years the family spent in Montana and Wyoming.

In 2002, Dennis answered an advertisement from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center seeking a physician to establish a geriatric fellowship program. Something about the opportunity clicked, and the family once again packed up and began a new chapter, this time in Texas. Dennis had always felt a special calling to care for veterans, and because the fellowship program utilized the VA for patient care, the position brought together two things that mattered deeply to him: teaching future physicians and caring for those who had served their country.

Once the geriatric fellowship program was firmly established and running well, Dennis transitioned to the VA full-time, where he would ultimately complete his remarkable career in medicine. He was passionate and unwavering when it came to the care of his patients. Dennis could be demanding because he expected those around him to share his commitment to excellent care. Whatever he asked of his coworkers, he asked because he believed it was the right thing to do for his patients. Their well-being was always at the heart of his work.

Despite the demands of a career that required so much of his time and attention, Dennis somehow managed to remain present for his family. Medicine meant that he missed his share of games, school programs, and special events, but whenever he could be there, he was. More importantly, his family always knew they mattered to him. He never forgot a birthday or anniversary, and for many years, Christmas meant carefully chosen, special gifts for each of his children. His love was often expressed in those thoughtful details—the things that let his family know they were always on his mind.

Outside of medicine, Dennis had a great love for horses and spent many years showing cutting horses. Those years became even more meaningful when his son, Phil, joined him. Although the horses were eventually left behind in Montana, the love of them was not. Phil continues to share the passion his father helped nurture, carrying forward another special part of Dennis’s life.

Dennis was especially proud to see a new generation of his family enter the medical profession. When his granddaughter, Kenzie, became a registered nurse, Dennis was thrilled. Upon her graduation, he gave Kenzie his last stethoscope—a simple gift filled with extraordinary meaning. In that moment, something that had been part of Dennis’s own life of caring for others was passed into her hands, a fitting symbol of the legacy he leaves behind.

Dennis also possessed tremendous personal discipline. In 1980, he began running every day and continued faithfully until his health no longer allowed him to do so. Over the years, he completed several marathons, including the Chicago Marathon, as well as several triathlons and countless 5Ks. Whether in medicine, athletics, or the commitments he made to the people he loved, Dennis believed in showing up, working hard, and seeing things through.

For nearly five decades, Dr. Zoller dedicated his life to caring for others. He healed, taught, challenged, encouraged, and mentored. Yet among all of his professional accomplishments, his greatest legacy can be found in the people he loved and in those who learned from him. His influence will continue through his children and grandchildren, through the physicians he helped shape, through the patients whose lives were better because he cared for them, and through every lesson he passed along during a life devoted to service.

Left to cherish Dennis’s memory are his wife, Cathy; his daughter, Sarah Zoller of Amarillo; his two sons, Brian Zoller of Billings, Montana, and Phillip Zoller of Buckys, Iowa; his mother, Mildred Exner; six grandchildren, Zachary, Kenzie, Dylan, Mykka, Emma, and Elliott; and his uncle, Melvin Zoller of Arizona.