Obituary of Alfred Joseph Zetzl

Alfred J. Zetzl, of Speedway, Indiana was born August 21, 1934, in Indianapolis, Indiana, and went home to the Lord on Sunday, April 27, 2025.  He was 90 years young.  Al was born to the late John and Marie (Scheckelreiter) Zetzl who had both immigrated from Germany and met while taking classes to learn the English language.  They instilled in their family a love of learning and the importance of faith, family, hard work, and service to others--lessons that would stay with Al throughout his life and be passed on to his own children and grandchilden.  He grew up in Clermont and the south side of Indianapolis.  He attended St. Joseph Minor Seminary in Westmont, Illinois before returning home to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University (that was interrupted by his 2 years in the Army).

While in the Army, Al was stationed in Germany for 1.5 years.  He was part of the force that kept the peace after WWII.  Since he was stationed in Germany, he spent his free time with his aunts, uncles, and cousins which he thoroughly enjoyed.  What a blessing to get to know his relatives in Germany better.

On June 30, 1962, he married the love of his life Ruth H. Sitzman at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church.  They were neighbors when they were growing up and started down their rosy path together when Ruth started writing Al while he was in the Army.  Their union was blessed by 5 wonderful children and lasted for more than 50 years.

While raising his family, Al taught his children everything from carpentry and auto mechanics to plumbing, yard maintenance, writing, faith, and the value of a dollar.  His German heritage shown through with his love of beer and sauerkraut.  When his children asked about how a stomach worked, he replied, “There are 3 compartments in your stomach--one for beer, one for sauerkraut, and one for everything else.”  Although a proud German, he changed teams 1 day a year to claim that he was Irish on St. Patrick’s Day.  He went so far as to purchase a “Beanie-O-Greenie” to wear on that day.

He was a “Jack of All Trades and Master of None”.  There was nothing around the house that he didn’t think that he couldn’t fix--from cars and coffee makers, to sewing machines, bicycles, lawn mowers, and shoes.  If it was broken, he would try to fix it--and usually did.

His love of carpentry drove him to build matching bookshelves to flank his fireplace that were hooked together by the mantel that he created.  After he realized that the piece of paneling that he purchased for the backing of both bookshelves was going to be 2 inches short, he just finished out the bottom of each bookshelf with a 2 inch board he found in the garage to make up the gap (and prevent him from “wasting” money on another piece of paneling).  His engineering and creativity came through again when he realized that the bookshelf was going to cover an electrical outlet.  He simply created an outlet-sized door--complete with hinges and a small door knob--so that you would not have to look at the outlet when it was not in use.

Al loved Jesus, trains, ice cream, puzzles, and explaining how things worked.

He was very strong in his faith.  His family was one of the founding members of St. Christopher Catholic Church in Speedway, Indiana where he started his faith journey before his family moved to the south side of Indianapolis to attend Sacred Heart Catholic Church.  After attending St. Catherine’s during the early years of his marriage and participating in the church choir, his family started to grow so he and Ruth looked for a new house.  He ended up back at St. Christopher parish from 1966 until he passed away.  He was a cantor, Eucharistic Minister, and Adult Education participant thoughout his time at the parish.  Also, for many years during the annual church festival you could hear Al calling out the winning numbers at the “Sweet 16” gambling game with some witty musings during the lulls between the numbers.

He loved nature and growing his own food.

He was very proud to have worked as a civil servant at Naval Avionics for over 35 years.  Although he worked on many different projects over the years, his children only remember that he worked on bomb racks for the walleye bombs--probably because that was the project he was working on during the only open house that his children attended.  It did not hurt that he had candy in his desk for his children on the visit.  What a magical place!

After retirement, he enjoyed taking day trips to the casinos with Ruth.  He enjoyed the penny slots--usually taking them at their word and playing 1 penny at a pull!

Also during retirement, he enjoyed volunteering at St. Vincent de Paul warehouse where a bunch of retired guys and gals would get together and test/repair donated items or sort clothes.  Everyone seemed to find their niche and Al became know as the Baby Bed guy.  He would take all the parts folks donated and make sure it would create a baby bed (without instructions!).  How many times did the family hear about people that forgot to include this or that part?  True to his “outside of the box” thinking, Al would always find some substitute parts to reengineer the bed and make it work.

Much to the family’s amazement, Al started volunteering at St. Athanasius Byzantine Church.  They were not surprised by his volunteering because Al was always helping others.  They were surprised that he was helping to bake things for them to sell as a fundraiser.  Who knew that Al could bake?  Perhaps he was channeling his older brother John’s experience who was a baker when he was younger.

He thoroughly enjoyed attending the Zetzl family reunion annually (since his wife co-hosted the event).  He even donned a tall  red and white striped top hat, picked up a yard stick, and sung out loud and long both the “Schnitzelbank” and “I Am a Musician, I Come From Kokomo” songs, which included much hand waving and encouragement of audience participation.  They were both traditional German songs.

He had a heart of gold and always had a smile on his face and a song in his heart.

Al was the beloved husband of Ruth; loving father of Mary Helen (Paul) Valentine, Rose Ann (Tim) Shilson, Kathy (Yancy) Stults, Donna Zetzl, and David Zetzl; beloved grandfather of Dominic (Sarah) Valentine, Clara (John) Fox, Chris (Cierra) Shilson, Ben (Sarah) Shilson, Patrick Shilson, Yancy Stults, Jr., Nathan (Lindsay) Stults, Alyssa (Tyler) Delph, Bradley (Crystal) Nelson, and Alex Nelson; great grandfather to too many to count; and sibling of Father Ralph Zetzl, OFM, Linda (Carl) Stewart, and his sister-in-law Janet Zetzl.  He was preceeded in death by his wife Ruth, his daughters Mary and Donna, and his brothers John and Bob.

Visitation for Alfred Zetzl will be Sunday, May 4 from 4 to 7:30 pm (Rosary at 7:30pm) at Stevens Mortuary, 5520 W. 10^th St., Indianapolis.  The funeral Mass will be Monday, May 5, 11am, at St. Christopher Catholic Church, 5301 W. 16^th St., Speedway with viewing immediately preceeding it from 10-11am.  Interment in Calvary Cemetery, Indianapolis.

Those wishing to make donations in Alfred’s memory may direct them to St. Vincent de Paul Society, St. Athanasius Byzantine Church (Indianapolis, IN), or St. Christopher Catholic Church Food Bank (Speedway, IN).