Jerry Zeller, priest, professor whose optimism inspired others

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"He had always been committed to global understanding and peace,and he taught from that base orientation all those years as aprofessor," said his wife, Patricia Baker Zeller of Decatur.
An Episcopal priest since 1954, he juggled his religious dutieswith full-time academic posts at Emory University, MercerUniversity and Reinhardt College. His overarching optimism was amagnet to students and parishioners.
"I always thought of him as a Pied Piper who always had a trail ofpeople after him," his wife said. "He was a visionary who had a lotof dreams. He believed in justice and the dignity of every humanbeing."
Dr. Earnest Jerome Zeller, 82, of Decatur died of complicationsfrom cancer Friday at Hospice Atlanta. The body was cremated. Amemorial service will be 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Bartholomew'sEpiscopal Church. A.S. Turner & Sons is in charge of arrangements.
The St. Joseph, Mo., native earned three degrees from EmoryUniversity, then capped them with a Ph.D. from Indiana University.
The subjects he taught — history, philosophy, religion,American government, geography, political science, Westerncivilization and interpersonal communications — were asfar-flung as his travels.
"When he taught geography, he didn't just say where they producecorn and where they are on the map," his wife said. "He shared theimportance of that culture with his students and wanted them to seethe whole life of the people — their religion, theireconomics, everything about it."
Combining teaching with his work as an Episcopal priest, Dr. Zellerspent more than 50 years in parishes in Florida and Atlanta. He wasserving as rector of the Episcopal Church of the Holy Family inJasper when he retired from the priesthood in 2003.
"Jerry was a great leader who was able to empower people," saidBishop Frank Allan of Atlanta. "He'd take struggling littleparishes and encourage people, bring them out and give themconfidence in what they could accomplish."
"And he would never take personal credit for what he did," BishopAllan said. "He really believed that the strength of what peopledid was in them, not in him."
Dr. Zeller's active mind and jam-packed schedule made his wife feel"like I was running 90 miles an hour all the time trying to keep upwith him," she said.
He was a restless writer of poetry, essays and short stories, oftenscribbling ideas on scraps of paper.
He supported the civil rights movement of the 1960s and remainedfascinated by the Middle East, from its ancient roots to its modernconflicts.
When he traveled to Iran for a family wedding at the age of 80, "itwas the fulfillment of a lifelong dream," his wife said.
"I think all the things he did over the course of his lifesurprised him," his wife said. "He wanted a gentler, peaceful worldfor us all to live in, and one thing flowed into the next. It wasall a spontaneous expression of his great, passionate energy andhis love of people."
Survivors other than his wife include two daughters, Carol Gay Hallof Oak Ridge, Tenn., and Donna Sue Casey of Columbia; a son,Earnest Jerome "Chip" Zeller Jr. of Dacula; two stepchildren,Warren Turner Jackson III of Grapevine, Texas, and Lore Ann JacksonLee of Decatur; a brother, James John Zeller, of Winter Haven,Fla.; and 10 grandchildren.