Clarence L. "Chuck" Zeise

Clarence L. "Chuck" Zeise died October 7, 2024 at his retirement community in Deland, Florida. He was 97. Mr. Zeise lived much of his adult life in Irwin, PA and all of his children were graduates of Penn Trafford High School.
Mr. Zeise was born August 5th, 1927 in Pittsburgh and was raised mostly in the South Hills in the neighborhoods of Knoxville and Allentown. He was a graduate of South Hills High School and then served in the United States Army.
He attended the University of Pittsburgh and graduated with a degree in chemical engineering. Chuck's passion for chemistry and his practical skills made him an excellent chemist.
He started his career at Armstrong Cork then moved back to Pittsburgh with Westinghouse, first at the Power Generation factory in Trafford then earning a position at the prestigious Westinghouse Research Center in Churchill, PA. Working there, he was the author of three patents improving the insulation and construction of electric motors.
His mastery of chemistry and his love of building things inspired his oldest son, Steve, to pursue mechanical engineering. Even into his 80's, Steve would bring him all of his chemical questions and invariably he would have the answer to solve the problem.
Chuck retired in 1992 and he and his wife soon thereafter moved to Deltona, Florida.
Chuck married Lois, the love of his life, a Cresson girl with big, brown eyes in 1958. They raised six kids with love and controlled chaos. He enjoyed choral singing, gardening complete with rain barrels and composting before they were cool. He also enjoyed fishing, dark room photography, carpentry and built the much loved backyard 'Cheese House'.
He instilled a love for nature and dedicated every vacation to his family as they went tent camping from Canada to Florida towing their wooden Pelican sailboat behind. He had a thirst for lifelong learning and even bought the Commodore 64 personal computer before any of his kids.
The only person he loved more than his family was the Lord. He generously served those in need and in crisis at various churches he was a member of. He was an elder at Cornerstone Ministries in Murrysville and prior to that was a member of Christian Life Fellowship.
He was most recently a member of Deltona Alliance Church in Florida.
Chuck was known to be able to fix just about anything from cars, to sewer lines, to furniture, to lawn mowers, to staircases and just about anything else that had moving parts. He also used his knowledge of chemistry to create some, um, interesting homemade fireworks displays.
But beyond his ability to fix and build things around the house, he was always generous with his time in helping neighbors out and was always quick to pitch in a helping hand for anyone in need.
Chuck's greatest impact was his practical display of compassion every day. He always radiated warmth, communicated acceptance and love and always believed intelligence is not something to be used to promote yourself at the expense of others. Instead it was an opportunity to be flexible enough to connect with anyone, using your intelligence to reveal their unique value.
Chuck's final days were hallmarked by joy and faith even as his strength waned. At any given moment you could find him singing and laughing with Lois and family members, quipping with caregivers, or expressing praise to God.
He is survived by his loving wife, Lois (Latterner), of 66 years, six children: Annette Dietz of Pittsburgh; Steve Zeise (JoAnne) of Apopka, FL; Jeannine Kelley (Pete) of Morgantown, WV; Chris Zeise (Meghan) of Knoxville, TN; Tracy Sims (Tom) of North Versailles and Paul Zeise of Pittsburgh as well as 15 grandchildren and one great grandchild. He was preceded in death by his parents as well as two sisters, Sally Gould and Peggy Prostko.
A Memorial service in honor of Chuck will be held Saturday, Nov. 30th at 11 AM at Cornerstone Ministries, 2200 Cornerstone Lane, Murrysville, PA 15632. In lieu of flowers please consider making a donation in Chuck's name to Samaritan's Purse Disaster Fund.
To send flowers
to the family or plant a tree
in memory of Clarence L. "Chuck" Zeise, please visit our floral store.