Gregg Ziegler

The memorial service for Gregg Ziegler, 89, will be held at 3 p.m., Sunday, July 11, 2010, at the First United Methodist Church, 216 E. Highland Ave., Elgin, where the family will receive friends from 2 p.m. until the time of memorial service. The Rev. Jonathan Hutchison will officiate. Inurnment will be private. Born March 9, 1921, in Elgin to the late Lyle and Zell (nee Gregg) Ziegler, he passed away Tuesday, June 22, 2010, at his home. Mr. Ziegler was a 1939 graduate of Elgin High School and a 1947 graduate of Kalamazoo College. He graduated from the US Marine Corps officer training in Quantico, VA, and served during World War II in the Pacific Theater. Upon completion of his college education, Mr. Ziegler returned to Elgin and joined the family business, Ziegler?s Ace Hardware. He received the Illinois Retail Merchants Association?s Retailer of the Year award in 1983. Mr. Ziegler served as a past president of the Elgin Businessmen?s Association, the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce, the Elgin United Way, the Illinois Retail Hardware Association, and the Advisory Board of St. Joseph Hospital Elgin. He served as past director and vice chairman of the Ace Hardware Board of Directors, past chairman of the board of trustees of the First United Methodist Church of Elgin, past director of Wesley Willows in Rockford, Illinois, past director of the First National Bank of Elgin, past director and founder of Larkin Bank of Elgin, and founding director and chairman emeritus of the First Community Bank of Elgin. With a lifelong passion for the automobile, Mr. Ziegler set the NASCAR record for the Flying Mile event at Daytona Beach in 1960 racing his Chrysler 300F. For his accomplishment, he was inducted into the Elgin Sports Hall of Fame in 2001. Survivors include his wife, JoAnn McQueen Ziegler, whom he married in 1992; children, Brian Ziegler of Elgin and Mary (Steve) Schmitendorf of Dundee; grandchildren, Lyra (Eric) Gleave of McLean, VA, Brendan Ziegler of Chicago, and Sara (fiancé Neil Seeger) Schmitendorf of Dundee; and sister-in-law, Phyllis Ziegler of Elgin. In addition to his parents, Mr. Ziegler was preceded in death by his first wife, June (nee Anderson) whom he was married to from 1949 to 1991; and brother, James L. Ziegler. In lieu of flowers, memorials in Mr. Ziegler?s name may be made to the Mayo Clinic, attention: Development Office, 200 First St. SW, Rochester, MN 55905.

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