Earl Zahler
1945 - 2005
Earl Zahler in 1983
Earl Lyle Zahler was born July 25, 1945, in Buffalo, New York,
the third child of Lyle and Ethel
Zahler. He grew up in
Boston, New York, a rural town south of Buffalo. As a youth, Earl enjoyed the outdoors
and was often found playing with family and friends. From an early age, he enjoyed
hunting raccoon with his father and brothers and, as he grew older, he would often hunt
alone. Another notable pleasure for early was watching early TV shows, particularly
reruns of "The Three Stooges" movies.
Earl's One Year Pictures
Earl attended elementary school in Boston and then completed his junior
high and high school education at Griffith Institute and Central School in Springville, riding
Werner Blesy's school bus daily. Earl enjoyed shop class and playing saxophone in the
high school band, particularly the marching band. After graduating from Griffith
Institute in 1963, Earl attended SUNY Morrisville, where he earned an Associates Degree in
Food Technology.
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| Earl and older
brothers |
Following graduation, Earl began working at a canning factory in North Collins, while living at
home. Earl was soon drafted, however, and, following a year's deferment, entered the
US Army. After completing basic training, he was assigned to an Army contingent
monitoring a civilian food processing plant in Jacksonville, Florida, where he served as a food
technologist. He received the rank of Specialist 4th class upon discharge from the
service.
Following his honorable discharge, Earl resumed his career in quality assurance, gaining
valuable experience. Then in the early 1970's, Earl moved to Dagsboro, Delaware, where
he was employed by Draper King Cole in their pickle plant at Millsboro. When his plant
was purchased by Vlasic, he continued working in their quality control division. As was
typical, Earl was proud of his career and welcomed visitors with an enthusiastic tour of his plant
and introduced the staff in quality control. He would often send a selection of pickles to
family and friends on Christmas or other occasions.
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| Earl and Robin's
wedding |
In the late 1970's, Earl was stricken with heart problems, an event which affected his activities,
but not his cheerful outlook on life. After recovering from the initial insult, he returned to
work at Vlasic. It was there that Earl met his soul mate, Robin Johnson, the
company nurse. Earl and Robin were married May 26, 1984. The two were
inseparable and spent many happy hours caring for their pets, shopping, and antiquing.
Earl's hobbies included participating in pig roast, vintage cars (particularly MGs), NASCAR,
water gardening, and surfing the Internet. A great animal lover, he pampered his many
birds, cats, and dogs. When his health permitted, he delighted in taking his favorite dog
"Gilka" to a local nursing facility to share his love of animals with others.
Earl died November 11, 2005 in Lewes, Delaware and is buried in the Gate of Heaven Cemetery,
Dagsboro, Delaware. Throughout his life, Earl was known for his quick smile and happy
disposition. He is remembered as a gentle, kind and loving individual who was a friend to
everyone he met.