Zell Gaston Ansley, Jr.

Zell Gaston Ansley Jr, 80, passed away peacefully on April 25, 2025 surrounded by love and family. He is now free from the hardships of Parkinson’s Disease and dementia. Zell was born in Evergreen, AL on June 12, 1944, the son of the late Zell and Jimmie (Wilson) Ansley. Born and raised in Evergreen, Zell moved away after high school and worked briefly in Washington DC as a clerk for the US Secret Service before joining the Army in 1965 to serve his country in the Vietnam War. After completing basic training at Fort Jackson, SC he was trained as a Morse Interceptor at Fort Devens, Massachusetts. He was then deployed to Vietnam to serve from July, 1966 to June, 1967 intercepting and decoding enemy communications as part of the 8th Radio Research Field Station. He also served at the Berlin, Germany field station from January, 1969 to August, 1969 before returning to the Army reserves and ultimately a honorable discharge from the Army in August, 1971 with a rank of Specialist Four. Zell’s marriage to Diane Lynn Finkbeiner was on June 12, 1972 after which they purchased their forever property - a beautiful 15 acre plot of land in the Fowl River area of Theodore, AL. Diane began a career as a public school teacher in 1973 and Zell ordered the plans for a “German Tudor” home and worked as his own builder and general contractor beginning in July, 1974 and completing the following year. It was on that same land that Zell began his first endeavor to build green houses and grow some of the finest local tomatoes at a commercial scale. While a valiant and exciting effort, and successful in many ways, it ultimately failed as a business. Zell enrolled at the University of South Alabama, building upon previous credits completed at Springhill College, to complete a bachelor’s degree in education and commence a more stable and secure profession to support a growing family. He joined the Mobile County Public School System in 1983 where he worked as a teacher for the next 22 years. The majority of that time was spent at Theodore High School as a government and economics teacher for 12th grade students. Always engaged with his students and creating a positive classroom environment, he was recognized as Teacher of the Year on multiple occasions. Summers often included a road trip to the Great Smoky Mountains and Sandusky, MI to enjoy time with Diane’s mother (Thelma Finkbeiner), brother (Douglas Finkbeiner), and family. Thanksgivings were most often spent in Evergreen at the home of his beloved mother, brothers, and families. At Christmas, Zell enjoyed stringing lights to every corner of his home, singing Christmas carols at the family piano (his favorite was “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”), and cooking his special fried quail for Christmas breakfast. Zell was active in his community, serving as a fire fighter and treasurer for the Fowl River Volunteer Fire Department (VFD) for many years. His children enjoyed having the “number 8” red fire truck kept at their house awaiting a call for Zell and the VFD to respond! He was involved in his local Community of Christ church where he was an ordained elder. In retirement, Zell enjoyed working on his property and spending time with family. He loved to sip coffee on his front porch while watching birds (and squirrels) snack from the numerous feeders he provided them, or while watching the rain fall peacefully into his pond, or while admiring the result of his many hours of hard work and meticulous care that he would provide to his property. He loved animals, whether it was dogs and cats throughout his life, or horses and a donkey later in life, or the geese and ducks that would stop by the pond for a short visit but then stay a while after realizing that they would be fed daily by the nice homeowner. He took many great trips with family, including a meandering cross-country drive (twice), DisneyLand, camping amongst the majestic redwood trees of CA, the Grand Canyon, Arches National Park, the cliffs of the Pacific Ocean, MLB baseball games (Giants and Astros), and many others. He spent the last two and a half years of his life living in California with his son and family where the challenges of Parkinson’s Disease and dementia could be somewhat alleviated to preserve and extend his quality of life. To know Zell was to love Zell. He was a tender and caring soul. His sense of humor, story telling, and physical presence will be deeply missed by the countless many that knew him. Zell is survived by his beloved family including his wife Diane and his two children and daughter-in-law, Jennie Bosarge of Theodore, AL and Jacob and Laura Ansley of Benicia, CA. Zell cherished his five grandchildren, Ansley Bosarge, Blake Bosarge, Halleck Ansley, Ronin Ansley, and Nora Ansley and was lovingly known to them as “Papa”. He is preceded in death by two brothers, James and Bill Ansley, and brother-in-law, Douglas Finkbeiner. The family honors the memory of Zell and invites you to share memories on the Tribute Wall at sernityfuneralhome.com. A celebration of life will be held at a later date at the Sepulga Cemetery in Mount Union, AL

Tributes

Zell Gaston Ansley, Jr.

June 12, 1944 - April 25, 2025