- Date Of Birth: July 30, 1919
- Date Of Death: January 20, 2018
- State: New York
Castleton – John Frank Zoller recently contracted pneumonia and departed this life on January 20, 2018. His parents, V.R. Lance Zoller and Myrtle Putnam, and his brother, Steven, as well as many family members predeceased him. John was born on July 30, 1919 in Edwardsville, NY and graduated from Morristown H.S. and attended Clarkson University. During WWII, John had to leave college to help his dad operate the dairy farm. He always believed that a farm was the best place for a boy to grow up, but never wanted to be a farmer “tied to a cow’s tail.” Upon his father’s death, he ceased dairy operations but raised veal and sheep for a time.
John left farming to become a welder/mechanic working at Diamond Match in Ogdensburg and the newly opened Reynolds Metals Aluminum plant in Messina. In 1969 he taught building trades/maintenance for a year at the Columbia-Greene Vo-Tec in Philmont before returning to college where he earned his B.S. at SUNY Oswego. After moving to Woodbridge, VA, John worked at the DC Correctional Prison in Lorton as the heavy farm equipment mechanic and as a trainer for a work release program, from which he retired. He was angry when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 because he loved working. Although histoplasmosis robbed him of most of his central vision after retirement, he never complained and found ways to work around his disability, but it did bother him when he had to stop driving.
John kept his youthful outlook until nearly the end because he was naturally curious and loved learning. He enjoyed reading, investing, working, traveling, puttering in his barns, and repairing anything. He was a master at connecting pulleys and could move absolutely anything with a come-along. He became transformed whenever he walked into a workshop and was surrounded by the tools of that trade.
John was a life-long bachelor until age 82 when he took the leap and married Diane Chiovini with whom he taught in 1969. He had many fine traits along with a streak of whimsy which made him a wonderful husband, soul mate, and best friend. His wife survives as well as his step-son Chris (Julie) Keating, Cousins Doris (Charles) Black, Donna Putnam and Tom (Shirley) Lake. We will miss him.
The family wishes to thank the different staffs for the wonderful care given to John at Albany Memorial Hospital, The Community Hospice, and Ludder’s Country Home Care in West Sand Lake and especially Helen Bridenbeck of Ludder’s.
