Alfred Zeller, Vermont's Personal Furrier

An earlier post showed this photo of three long-serving presidents of Congregation Beth El in St. Johnsbury, and Ben Harris, on the left, was featured in another post. Now it's time to write about the man in the center: Alfred Zeller, better known as Al.

The 1920 Census showed Al's father Harry as born in Austria around 1887 (arriving in the US 1913), with a trade of furrier, and his mother Sarah as born in Russia around 1896 (arriving in the US 1912); there were already three siblings (Bertha, Theda, Esther) in the Lowell, Massachusetts, Zeller home by 1920, and Al was born a year later, in 1921. Al served in World War II among the warrant officers, enlisting December 26, 1942, at Fort Devens. After the war he arrived in the Northeast Kingdom around 1950 and shared married life first with his wife Esther (née Cohen). She died in 1969, and on October 14, 1971, Al married Lillian E. Sacks, whom he'd met in Montreal, Canada. Lillian was a perfect partner for Zeller Furs; not only did she help run the business, but she often modeled the fur coats, stoles, and wraps. A common way for the couple to market their furs was to present them at a hotel in another city, such as Burlington, where people could come to see the line; Lillian served as the gracious and stylish hostess for these events.

A Zeller fur wrap.

The couple held many roles in the synagogue community, too, where Al regularly led services; for many years he assisted in training young men and women to become bar/bat mitzvah; he led the religious committee for at least a decade; and even in his later years, he continued to take part in the lay-led service rotation, always using "the blue book," the Reform tradition siddur.

As his wife Lillian recalls, Al particularly took a strong role when the congregation decided to purchase land and have its own synagogue built. Along with the Harrises and Caplans and many others, the Zellers helped raise funds, draw community attention, and make decisions about how the structure would be finished. Lillian recalls with special fondness a fund-raising party that she and Al hosted, around the built-in swimming pool at their home about a mile from the shul.

Here are the segments of the congregational history that mention the Zellers:

Alfred Zeller, who owned a furrier business in town, became president of the St. Johnsbury Chamber of Commerce. He would later be synagogue president for three years, and had already begun guiding young men and women through becoming bar or bat mitzvah (the first was Harvey Caplan, who would also become a synagogue leader). Al’s wife Lillian enjoyed co-hosting a highly successful fundraiser as a “pool party” at their home. 

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Ellie Dixon, a congregation member and reporter for the Caledonian-Record, wrote nostalgically of the [congregation's] 33 years in rented rooms over McClellan’s department store:

In the simple rented quarters on the second floor of a store front building, the whole gamut of Jewish life was experienced. Babies were named, bar and bat mitvahs were held and holidays were observed with all their traditions. Some of the youngsters who played dreidle games at Hannukah parties 30 years ago now watch their children play the same dreidle games at the same Temple, during the Festival of Lights holiday. … The Temple’s religious leader, Alfred Zeller, … predicts that the congregation will be in its new building a year from now. “The enthusiasm of the local selectmen and area residents is overwhelming,” said Zeller. He noted that contributions toward a Temple building fund have been offered from Jews and non-Jews here and in neighboring New Hampshire.

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[When the synagogue building was complete] Rabbi Max Wall came from Burlington to deliver the dedication address; Ben Harris as president and Alfred Zeller as religious committee chair shared the pulpit. Area priests and ministers attended. And the synagogue announced that its membership included “about 20 Jewish families … and 14 children in its Hebrew School.”

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[In 1985] Al and Lillian Zeller sold their 35-year-old furrier business.
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Al Zeller died in 2009, but among the many young people, now adults, whom he led to the Torah, his memory lives brightly. Beth El dedicated the publication of its history in that year to Al Zeller, who gave in so many ways to his community. His obituary is found in the February 5, 2012, post here.