Robert Zell

ALBANY - Robert Loren Zell, 85, of San Diego, CA, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, June 12, 2007. He was born in Albany on June 9, 1922, the youngest of the four children of John and Martha Zell. He married Josephine May Howe on April 17, 1968 in Oxford, England.
Robert was a graduate of Union Seminary in New York, and was ordained in the Episcopal Church. He was also a graduate of Carroll College and of Nashotah House, WI. He spent several years in England, including assisting at an Anglican Church in Northolt, London. Robert was a Fulbright Scholar, and held Master's degrees in theology from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. AS a Catholic layman, he was assistant professor of theology at Marquette University in the 1960's. He was later employed by the Wisconsin Department of Health and Social Services in Milwaukee and Madison. In his spiritual journey, Robert joined the Greek Orthodox Church in 1988. He and Josey retired to San Diego in 1999 (div. 2003).
Robert is survived by his daughter, Rosemary Thrun; his son, Philip (Sarah), and his six grandchildren, Nicholas, Benjamin, Alexander and Emily Thrun, and Kevalin and Andrew Zell. He is also survived by a niece, Lonie (Phil) Wielewinski, and a nephew, Ralph (Rose Ann) Zell, and several great-nieces, Brenda Yung, Valerie Balga, Darcy Cyr, Jennifer Wright, Vickie Palmatier, Laurie Dennis and Debbie Cavanaugh. Robert was predeceased by his brothers, James and John and his sister, Alice.
Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday at New Comer-Cannon Family Funeral Home, 343 New Karner Road, Colonie (Rt. 155-South of Central Ave.). Interment will follow at Graceland Cemetery in Albany. A calling hour will precede the service from 10 to 11 a.m. at the funeral home. Anyone wishing to send memorials or sympathies to the family, may do so in c/o New Comer-Cannon Family Funeral Home, 343 New Karner Road, Albany, NY 12205. To leave a special message for the family online, visit www.NewcomerFamily.com