James Zeigler was born in Mansfield, Ohio on October 1, 1924 and passed to Eternal rest on December 16, 2017.
Over the years, he was a soldier, an engineer, a traveling salesman, a locksmith and a security guard. Jim contributed his successful life and career to the training he received as a child at The Ohio Masonic Home. "It made being in the Army a piece of cake and has affected my
whole life."
Jim came to the Ohio Masonic home in 1933 as a child. He was 9 years old and stayed until 1940 when he returned to live with his father after he remarried. Jim graduated High School in May of 1943, was drafted in June of 1943 and honorably served his country for 3 years in the Army during WWII, serving in Germany, France, Belgium and Austria. Jim was a Private First Class assigned to Battery C of the 865th Anti-Aircraft Battalion. Jim served 11 years in the U.S. Army Reserve.
Brother Zeigler joined the Masons in May of 1947 and was a 70 year member of Bellville Lodge #376. He later joined the Scottish Rite Valley of Cleveland in 1967. Jim returned to the Ohio Masonic Home as a resident in 2000 with his wife Doris. You never had to look far to find Jim, he was usually in the Train Room. When asked how he ended up in the Train Room, he replied, “Dad was a railroad man. When he came home at night, he didn’t want to see any trains, so I never had a train set at home. In 2001, I volunteered to help out in the Train Room and have been here since.”
Jim enjoyed all the trains and the pleasure of meeting all the people who came to visit. He especially enjoyed those repeat visitors and had fond memories of Home Day in 2011, having over 400 visitors come through the station.
Jim has made his final stop on the tracks of life, and the trains don’t run at the Ohio Masonic Home anymore, but the memories of them both will never be forgotten.
