This Memorial card was added by Rick Zeigler in memory of
his beloved dad on 3-12-05
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This is from the Grand Rapids Newspaper
Below is a photo of Art and little great great nephew
Colton Holloway when both were getting chemo...
Colton aka "Gunner" and "Blue Eyes" will soon celebrate his 2nd birthday and now has a baby sister Cadence. updated 2-18-06
Art was born December 4, 1930 in Greenville, Michigan. His mom, Maxine and dad Vance worked hard to raise Art and his two brothers, Ron and Don. Art joined the Navy with his parent's permission at the tender age of 17. Art served nine years in the US Navy from 1947 to 1956. He was on the USS Sicily CVE118 during the Korean War. This ship was the first aircraft carrier in the area at the start of the Korean Crisis and supported ground operations at Pohang and Inchon for the Marines landing and also evacuated Marines under fire when they withdrew form the Chosin Reservoir to Hungnan. He was also stationed at NAS Miramar and NAS Moffett Field during the early 1950's.
He was a collector of antique Coca ~Cola memorabilia for more than 40 yrs. He was also interested in the Lakota Indians, Custer and the Battle of the Little Big Horn. He had started a new hobby of reading. Yes, reading. He had about 20 books on the subject of the Battle of the Little Big Horn from the Indian and the Custer viewpoint by many great authors. Starting in December of 1999, I sold most of his collection of Coca~Cola items on eBay. I think he hated to see some of his favorite items go such as a 1933 Coca~Cola toy truck with glass bottles, but felt it was time.
When Art got out of the Navy in 1956, he worked for several small companies as an Electronic Technician. Eventually he went to work for Hughes Aircraft. He was a senior Electronics Technician and worked on the TOW Missile in the gyro department. In the early 60's we started a company called Zeigler Vending Service, Inc. He installed coin operated washers and dryers in apartments. I did the office work and counted the money. I also went on service calls to light pilot lights and fix stuck coin slides while Art was still working at Hughes. After 5 years he was able to quit working for Hughes and work in our business full time. We sold the business in 1978. We lived for 3 and a half years at South Lake Tahoe and had a laundromat there, and in 1982 moved back down to Southern California. Art eventually went to work for Ed Alexander and his company Alexander-Shokai. This company imported tennis racquet string from Osaka, Japan. He worked there for fifteen years until he retired. Art had been retired since 1996 and enjoyed playing golf and working in the yard.
Art was born in Greenville, Michigan. His father was Vance A. Zeigler & his birth mother was Helen L. Steele. They divorced when he was around 4, and he was raised by his dad and mom, Maxine (Lybart). Art's paternal grandmother, Clarissa (Clara) Stearns married Samuel Daniel Zeigler and they had 5 sons and 1 daughter by the names of Harold, Mildred, Samuel Elwood, Herman, Vance and John. Clarissa and Sam are buried in Greenville, Michigan. The Stearns family history goes back to the 1700's. J. D. Stearns was his great, great grandfather and he was born in Sandusky, Ohio and eventually moved to Michigan. He married Sara Bigler and when she died, he married Julia Plato. They are all buried in Greenville, Michigan. His great grandfather Michael Zeigler (Mikle Zigler) came here from Germany and settled in Erie, Pennsylvania, married Rosina Fitzner, who also came from Germany, and then moved on to Michigan. Michael was kicked by a horse and died as a result of his injuries. His widow, Rosina remarried. They too are buried in Greenville, Michigan. Art has two brothers. Ron & wife, Janet, live in Michigan and summer in Arizona, and Don & wife Illene live in Northern California in the small town of Coarsegold. Art's mom, Maxine Zeigler moved back to Grand Rapids, Michigan after his dad died in Westchester, California in 1989. His dad and mom had lived in California for around 40 years.
In 1997, Art planned our six week trip to the east coast. What a time we had. We went to San Antonio, Tx to see the Alamo and the famous "River Walk" and dipped our toes in the warm water in Galveston and visited Jane & Al Korenek. We drove through Arkansas on our way to the beautiful Great Smoky Mountains, in Tenn. We went to the site where Davy Crockett was born. Not on a mountain top either, but it is the greenest state in the land of the free. We visited Cindy and Jeff Shoffeitt in Leesburg, Va. Lots of history in that area. We were impressed with the Changing of the Guard at the Arlington National Cemetery. Saw Washington D.C., the Vietnam Memorial, the Korean Memorial & the Smithsonian Inst. We visited Ellis Island, & the Statue of Liberty. Went to R. I. & visited Eddie McCarthy (old old friend) & saw where the rich folk live in Newport, R.I. We then went to Gettysburg & the Amish country in Pa.. From there we went to see Niagara Falls from both the U.S. side & from the Canadian side. It was a sight to behold and will never be forgotten. We drove to Sault Ste. Marie and crossed a bridge into Mackinaw City in Northern Michigan. We took a boat over to Mackinac Island, and then drove down to Grand Rapids, Michigan to visit Art's family. Came back through Illinois, Wis., Minn, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota & east Utah.
We had a wonderful trip to Alaska in 1998. If you are interested in details I can email you a copy of my report :-) Art planned the whole thing. It took him months. We started at Dawson Creek which is mile 0 of the AlCan or Alaska Hwy.and went all the way up on sometimes very bad roads to Haines and flew from there to Skagway on a 3 seater bush plane that scared me :-0, oh yes, really scared me speechless. While in Skagway, we went on a train ride to the top of the mountain where the gold fields were and where the Canadian, Yukon and US borders meet. We went to Denali Park and went on a 7 hr bus ride and saw 9 grizzlies, bull moose, a golden eagle, & caribou. We then drove to Fairbanks and from there down to Portage where we went on a cruise boat and saw beautiful glacier mountains, icebergs and icefields. We went on to Anchorage, where we went on another train ride and saw a gold mine and panned for gold. We also went on a cruise boat ride and from the shore, saw & heard the wonderful Susan Butcher who won the Alaskan dog sled race 4 times and visited and Indian Village. There was also a pilot who took off and did some tricks in his bush plane and then landed again in his back yard that was right on the river! On the way up and back we visited many of Art's cousins who live in Canada. We had a wonderful trip. Alaska is great to visit. We just would not want to live there.