Inge Hildegard Zeller

April 29, 1929 - March 5, 2016

Inge Hildegard Zeller passed away peacefully at home the morning of March 5, 2016. She was born April 29, 1929 in Oakland, California to Ernest and Hildegard Dix who had immigrated from Germany. The Dix Family lived in Berkeley for many years where Inge attended Emerson Grammar School and Berkeley High School. In her senior high school year the family moved to Lafayette where Inge graduated from Acalanes High School in 1947. During World War II Inge supported the war effort by part-time work at Oakland Army Base and harvesting fruit from the Sacramento Valley in the summer. Inge attended and graduated from Lux College in San Francisco to learn the dress making trade and was employed by a wedding dress designer after graduation. Inge’s family spent many summer vacations in Pine Grove, Lake County and in 1947 built a cabin on Rainbow Drive. At the same time the Zeller Family was building a cabin a few hundred feet away and that is where she met her husband to be Robert Zeller who was attending law school. After Bob’s graduation Inge and Bob were married in 1951 and they began living in Napa. Inge had been born with a profound hearing loss and became a very good lip reader so that she did not need to go to special schools. In 1952 Inge and Bob started their family and Inge did a phenomenal job of raising Cathy, Debbie, Janice, Bobby, Lisa and Kevin even though she was unable to hear them. She was most attentive to her beloved children and was always involved in all their activities. While raising her family Inge was also a very active person outside the Family. She was a Founder of Self Help for the Hard of Hearing (SHHH) Napa Chapter and assisted in many local programs to help the hard of hearing have a better life experience. She was awarded a national spirit award for her efforts on behalf of the local chapter, the state group and the national organization. Inge was a longtime member of Silverado Country Club and was deeply involved in the tennis activities and played in many social and tournament matches. She was praised in a national tennis magazine by Tom Stow, her coach, as the person he enjoyed teaching tennis the most. Inge is survived by her husband of sixty four years, Robert Zeller; her children, Cathy (Jeff) Erickson, of Napa; Janice (Dan) McFarlane, of Monterey; her son Robert (Deborah) Zeller of New Hampshire; Lisa (Ron) Miller, of Napa and Kevin Zeller and his wife Lauren, of San Francisco. She is also survived by a cousin, Elena (Erhard) Albrecht and her son Felix of Germany. Inge left fifteen grandchildren: Bryan Richmond, Scott Erickson, James Terry, Clark Terry, Graham Terry, J.P. McFarlane, Lindsay McFarlane, Robert Zeller, Cameron Zeller, Nicole Zeller, Zack Zeller, Russell Miller, Nathan Miller, Stuart Miller and Hugo Zeller. She also leaves four great-grandchildren: Rowan Terry, Maeve Terry, Owen Richmond and Asher Richmond. Inge’s parents predeceased her as did her daughter Debra (James) Terry and her sister, Ilse Dix. A memorial service will be held Tuesday March 22nd at Tulocay Cemtery Chapel at 10:30 a.m. with a reception to follow at the Zeller Family home at 1829 Third Street, Napa. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial donations to the Hearing Loss Association of Napa Valley 3200 MacLeod St., Napa 94558 or Justin-Siena High School 4026 Maher St., Napa 94558 Arrangements are under the guidance of Claffey and Rota Funeral Home.