Trisco project manager instrumental to Cathedral project, remembered for his dedication and friendship

Laura Keener and Maura Baker

Editor and Staff Writer

In the Cathedral garden is a memorial stone bearing the name Todd Zapp. The inscription reads: “Todd Zapp of Trisco Systems Inc., for his dedication and leadership during the restoration of the Basilica completed in 2026.”

No account of the 2023–2026 restoration of the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, Covington, is complete without Mr. Zapp, the Trisco project manager who helped launch and guide the work before his death in May 2025.

His obituary published on Legacy.com noted that Todd was born on Oct. 27, 1963, in Lima, Ohio, to Frederick W. Zapp Jr. and Roberta (Kersker) Zapp, who preceded him in death. On Oct. 15, 1988, he married the love of his life, Teresa G. Zapp, who preceded him in death on Sept. 13, 2019. The couple had two daughters who blessed them with eight grandchildren.

Brian Walter, owner of Trisco, had known Mr. Zapp for about 45 years. They went to high school together, and Mr. Zapp later joined Mr. Walter’s family business, beginning as a laborer and steadily working his way through the ranks.

“Todd started out as the lowest guy on the totem pole,” Mr. Walter said. “He was a laborer and showed a great aptitude for work. He liked to work. He liked to work hard. And he was smarter than most.”

Mr. Walter later made Mr. Zapp a foreman and eventually brought him into the office. Mr. Zapp had worked in the warehouse, in the field, in the office and as a foreman, so he understood each part of the company and the people doing the work. He also became Trisco’s safety director because of his concern for protecting workers, Mr. Walter said.

“Todd was the first guy in, the last guy out,” Mr. Walter said. “Rob would start at 6 in the morning and Todd’s truck was there, and we’re two and a half hours away from Covington. Todd left the house at 3:30 or 4:00 a.m. to make sure he spent the full day with Rob.”

Rob Davis is the foreman of the project who assumed lead of the Cathedral restoration project and the other duties Mr. Zapp tended. Mr. Davis said Mr. Zapp was “more committed and dedicated to every project he was on,” and that the long phone calls that they had trying to determine the best way to replace the Cathedral’s tracery were typical of the way he worked.

“Todd and I would make phone calls when we found out about the traceries,” Mr. Davis said. “We’d be on the phone two hours at night talking about it, trying to figure out the best and safest way to do it. I give him all the credit in the world. Most of the ideas that we used and did were his. He was the biggest part of that.”

When Mr. Zapp died, Mr. Walter said the project was about one-third complete, with roughly two-thirds still to go. But the hardest planning had been done. “Todd built the plane, he flew the plane, he got it up in the air,” Mr. Walter said. “All I had to do was land it.”

Mr. Walter was quick to add that the landing depended on Mr. Davis. “We could not have done this without Rob,” he said. “I took over the management part of this project, but Rob took over the details. They came up with these ideas together, and Rob was able to implement them.”

For Mr. Davis, Mr. Zapp was more than a colleague. “He wasn’t just a coworker he was a very good friend, and deeply missed,” he said.

In his obituary, his family affirmed that Mr. Zapp was more than a colleague to Trisco workers, he was a beloved father and grandfather who “was extremely giving and generous. In his downtime, he enjoyed corrupting his grandchildren, playing golf, and mowing the lawn.”

This exceptional man will always be remembered in gratitude by the people of the Diocese of Covington and the millions of visitors to Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption.

In his closing remarks vigil Mass, Aug. 15, at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, celebrating the completion of the restoration project, Bishop John Iffert said, “Todd Zapp … provided tremendous leadership, expertise and dedication to this project … He was deeply committed to the restoration of this cathedral and gave generously of himself to this work … we are profoundly grateful for all that he contributed, and we hold him in memory and in prayer.”