ZELMER, Gregory Alan Gregory Alan Zelmer, 25, of Atlanta, passed away on Tuesday, June 9th, 2015. Gregory was the son of Karen S. Fetters, and the late Glen A. Zelmer. Gregory is survived by a daughter, Lillian Rose Zelmer, half -sisters Tara Marie Zelmer and Erica Diane Zelmer, and half-brother Justin Thomas Fetters. Gregory was born in Newport Beach, CA on May 16, 1990. He graduated from South Forsyth High School in 2008 and was working on a degree in Business from Georgia State. He worked as a project manager for Tom Williams Residential. Gregory enjoyed spending every spare moment he could with his daughter Lily and a man's best friend, Able, his German Shepherd. He also had a deep passion for playing and writing music, the outdoors, coaching his daughter's soccer team and was an active participant at Grace MidTown Church where he touched many lives. He had a very kind heart and extremely strong faith and will be dearly missed by all who knew and loved him. A service of remembrance will be held at the Grace MidTown Church, 1095 State Street NW, Atlanta, GA at 10:00 AM, Saturday, June 13, 2015. The family requests your presence following the service for a luncheon and celebration of Greg's life at Creekstone Estates Clubhouse, 2260 Fossil Creek Dr., Cumming, GA 30041. The family has requested that in lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to The Greg Zelmer Foundation, 5755 North Point Parkway, Suite 36, Alpharetta, GA 30022. Online donations can be made at http://Gregzelmerfoundation.org.

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Published by Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Jun. 12, 2015.

Memories and Condolences
for Gregory Zelmer

Sponsored by McDonald and Son Funeral Home and Crematory - Cumming.

12 Entries

tony jordan

June 25, 2015

A good friend, a good dad, and a good person. Greg... you are missed. My heart and prayers will forever be for your family, they will mourn until they to go to a greater place where you await there arrival.

Toni Trevisan

June 19, 2015

Deepest sympathies from Holy Redeemer Catholic School.

Greg was a great soccer coach, a nurturing dad and a kind person who will be missed...

Kai

June 18, 2015

Jaimie Bishop

June 16, 2015

Kai Short

June 15, 2015

My deepest condolences to the family and friends of Greg Zelmer. He was my son's soccer coach (coaching for the first time), and was so very kind and encouraging to the kids. Though we only interacted briefly, he made a positive impact on us... I can tell that he was a wonderful person. It was so sweet to observe his nurturing interactions with his beautiful daughter Lily. Peace and blessings.

June 14, 2015

We are so very sorry for your tremendous loss. You are in our thoughts.

Love, the Gatto family

Oslo and Abel

Robert

June 13, 2015

Hello, My name is Robert and I'm 35 year old IT professional, in a relationship, and have a 2 year old male dog named Oslo. I'm interested in the room that you have for rent.
These were the words that I wrote as a generic response for Bedroom listings on Craigslist. As I reviewed the message before sending, I thought to myself, who in God's name is going to take me on as a roommate?! I'm 35 and have a high energy dog. I sent the message out to 6 different listings within the Atlanta area and only got 1 response..from Greg Zelmer in East Atlanta.

The first few weeks living together, Greg and I had limited interactions; pretty much what you would would expect from two strangers who had just became roommates. We were 10 years apart in age, what could we possibly have in common? We quickly found common ground from our dogs Abel and Oslo. We would sit in the living room and watch the dogs wrestle and playfully chew each other faces. On one occasion Greg broke out his acoustic guitar and played turned the dogs' mosh pit into a calming kumbaya session that ended with the Abel and Oslo passed out at Greg's feet. Skillfully and with a smirk on his face, Greg looked over at me and said, taming the savage beasts.

I could tell that Greg was and still is well loved and had a stellar supporting cast. Greg's mom would send him home with all kinds of food and desserts that we would enjoyproviding that Abel didn't get to them first! One of Greg's closest friends Chris would stay over and lead deep, positively charged conversations. When Greg's daughter Lily would stay with us, I could immediately tell that she was the apple of his eye. From the few times that Lilly was at our place it was obvious that Greg loved Lilly more than anything.

On Monday night Greg and I took the dogs to Park Grounds, a dog park with a cafe a few blocks away from our place. While at the park, we laughed and were entertained by the dogs running and playing. We grabbed sandwiches for dinner and traded halves. During the meal Greg and I talked about some of the challenges that he was going through. Challenges that most of us have been through and some challenges we could only imagine. As the conversation got deeper, we discussed the value of genuine interactions and how they become memories that defy our experiences with people, places and events. Afterwards, Greg remarked how great the meal was. I thought to myself, Greg, we're eating $6 dollar sandwiches at a dog park. It wasn't until later that I realized that a great meal doesn't have to be an overpriced steak at a fancy restaurant. The meal was great because we laughed together and shared the meal together, which made it memorable.

Although my time spent with Greg was fairly short, I am fortunate to become Greg's friend. He was a trustworthy roommate, a selfless friend, a hardworking employee, a respectful son, and a loving father. When I was getting ready for Greg's remembrance service I still needed to properly end my speech for Greg. I went to the dryer to put my dress shirt in so that I could get rid of the wrinkles. (Something that Greg would constantly do for his wrinkled shirts) When I opened the dryer door it was all but empty except for one of Greg's guitar picks. I stared at the guitar pick for a few seconds and then quickly grabbed it. I now had the conclusion to my speech:
When we come into this world we can't pick who are family members are or where we are from. Later in life, we pick the people that we share our interactions and experiences with. A guitar pick can not do much by itself. But when a guitar pick is used by a skilled musician with a finely tuned instrument it can a powerful arrangement. The combination of individual, instrument, and guitar pick can produce raging riffs or soothing melodies to tame the savage beast I am glad that Greg picked me as a roommate and that we were able to have genuine interactions and share our experiences resulting in sentimental memories.

June 12, 2015

Dearest Karen and the entire Family,
There are no words at this time other than to tell you that Greg was a special young man that was seeing the light through what was his trying twenties. This will be a very difficult time for all and I will say many prayers and send a ray of sunshine from California where Greg came into this world. May you always find peace and comfort knowing that Greg is safe and will now make music with the Angels that will protect him for all eternity.
Love,
Vickie