On December 9, 2017, Showman and concessionaire extraordinaire left the bonds of this earth to walk the Golden Midway in the sky. He was surrounded by his beautiful wife and lovely daughters. He was born to William G. and Gladys (McCaffrey) ZeBelle on June 1, 1934. He was the eldest of 3 sons.
He was a rather inquisitive and playful child and teenager. He loved to tinker with and ride bikes and then up to building cars. There are many nefarious stories of the cars that he and his buddies shared. He also ran midget race cars as a young man.
When he was 15 his father rented him a cotton candy stand and that is where he found his true love. So often he said he never worked a day in his life. He loved spinning cotton candy- as many colors as possible- on a fresh stick and then handing it to children while their eyes sparkled at the magic of it all! He loved making candy apples and caramel apples, and when he found his magic recipe for butterscotch corn he was very proud to say he made it with real butter. It did make all the difference! He was a truly lucky man as he felt he never did “work”. He had many passions.
He had been married 5 times. Although not all at once, he is the father of eight children.
He is preceded in death by his parents William G. ZeBelle and Gladys (McCaffrey) ZeBelle; daughter Carrie Ruth ZeBelle-Rich; sons Edward ZeBelle and Michael David Smith; and his younger brother Richard ZeBelle.
He is survived by his brother Benjamin Joseph ZeBelle of Yorktown; wife Mary Ross ZeBelle; daughters Billie Kay Lowjewski, Jeri (Michael) ZeBelle-Bracey and Sherrie (Frank) Lynn ZeBelle Thomas; sons William Douglas ZeBelle and Benjamin ZeBelle.
He has requested cremation, no services, with a party to be thrown at a later date by the family. He has lovingly, yet firmly, requested that you do not mourn his passing, but to regale the memories and stories- after all, he will be watching from the Golden Midway.
A gathering in his honor will be held on Thursday, December 14 at 4 pm at Anderson Seventh-Day Adventist Church, 1122 W. 8th Street.