Johnnie Zahler

Johnnie Mae Zahler (née Souther) was born in Dennison, Texas, on November 20, 1925, to Joseph Carlton and Cora Dean Souther. She and her little sister, Geneva, remembered falling in love with beautiful music when their teacher at Dallas' Davy Crockett Elementary School would play them the "Lone Ranger music."

After her parents divorced, her mother married Frank Goss and the family moved to Atlanta. Johnnie Mae was in junior high when World War II erupted. She became a member of the Defense Stamp Committee and was awarded a medal for an essay she wrote on the American flag.

In 1942 she returned to Dallas to spend a year with her Grandma Parrish. For Mother's Day, Johnnie Mae sent an 8x10 picture of herself to her mother in Atlanta. One day when she came home from school, her grandma told her she had received a letter from a soldier. The soldier had seen her picture at the restaurant where her mother worked and had asked for her address. Johnnie Mae was hesitant to respond to this stranger, but her grandma said, "Honey, he's just a lonely soldier boy away from home, and he sounds nice." So, she wrote him back. His name was Edward Zahler. They fell in love through the mail.

Ed and Johnnie Mae met in person Christmas of 1943 in Atlanta and went to the Fox Theater for their first date to see Leave Her to Heaven. He made her laugh when he looked up at the stars on the ceiling and whispered to her, "what do they do when it rains?" When Ed shipped out to the Pacific theater, they wrote to each other every other day. Ed eventually proposed in a letter, and she wrote back "yes."

She graduated Cum Laude from Girls High School on February 2, 1945, and married Ed exactly one year later. They lived briefly in Ed's hometown of Lacona, New York, then moved to Dallas. Their three children were born there: Clarence Edward, Donnie Carl, and Cora Jeanette. When Jeanette was two, they moved back to Atlanta.

Once all the kids were in school, she worked as office manager for Georgia Health Agency, as secretary for two vascular surgeons at Emory Clinic, and as secretary to the vice president of sales for Brockway Glass Company. She retired in 1988.

Johnnie Mae dedicated her life to faith and family. She was baptized at 17 after studying the Bible with her Uncle T and Aunt Grace. Later, when she and Ed visited Uncle T on their honeymoon, Ed was baptized, too.

In 1955, the Zahlers became members of Kirkwood Church of Christ (which became Hillcrest Church of Christ in 1965) and stayed dedicated to that "congregation of loving Christian people" for the rest of their lives.

Even though she hated the cold, she loved Christmas and all the family traditions that came with it, including spending two whole days baking goodies with her daughter, Jeanette.

Johnnie Mae loved giving homemade cakes, candies, and cards to her friends and family. She said helping others was the best way to spend one's time and would quote a line from her favorite poem, Let Me Give: "I want naught but to do my part, to lift a tired or weary heart. To change folks' frowns to smiles again."

She was proud of her children, doted on her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, loyal to her friends, and committed to her Lord.

Johnnie Mae is survived by her children, Edward and his wife, Lenora; Donnie and his wife, Joan, and Jeanette; grandchildren Tom, Whitney and her husband, Danny, and Andrea; and great-grandchildren Joshua and Asher.