Robert F. Zoeller · Marine Artist · 1894-1978

Family

Wife Sara Whitney Olds (Zoeller)

Sara Whitney Olds, Robert Zoeller's wife, was a respected artist listed in Who's Who in American Art, Who's Who in the East, and Who's Who in American Women. She was well known for her portraits, still lives, oriental brush painting (sumi-e), and art instruction, not to mention her active participation in Long Island arts councils and garden clubs, and her skill in floral arranging. During World War II, she visited almost every service hospital in the east and did over 1500 portrait sketches of military veteran patients.

Robert Zoeller and Sara Whitney Olds met in art school and were married in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on January 17, 1921.

The portrait of Sara Whitney Olds on the left was painted by Robert Zoeller in the 1960s. The creased photograph on the right was one of the poses for that portrait.

Sara Whitney Olds was born on January 16, 1899, in Springfield, Ohio. She was the youngest of the five children of Edwin Whitney Olds of Springfield and Sallie Therese Sasseen of Kentucky, who were married on June 20, 1888.

From 1944, Robert and Sara (Sally Zoeller) maintained the Old Woods Studio at their home on Shore Road in Mount Sinai, Long Island, New York, where they painted, showed their work, and taught art classes. Sally also taught art for many years in public and private schools in Northern Brookhaven and for many years at the Hewlett School in East Islip, Long Island.

For a time, they also maintained a storefront studio in Port Jefferson, New York. They traveled extensively throughout the Northeastern United States searching out subjects to paint on location, and spent most of their winters in Mount Dora and the Gulf coast of Florida, where they also taught and painted.

Portraits by Sara Whitney Olds hang in the U.S. Army Medical Library in Washington D.C.; Mather Hospital in Port Jefferson, Long Island; the Warder Public Library in Springfield, Ohio; and in many art collections in the New York area. She exhibited at the Parish Museum of South Hampton and the Suffolk Museum at Stony Brook, both on Long Island. She also designed the seal for the New York State Second District Garden Club.

Sara died on October 26, 1969, in Port Jefferson, New York.

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Daughters Patricia Z. Phillips and Bonnie Gardner

Robert and Sara had two daughters, Patricia Z. Phillips (1923–2005), and Bonnie Gardner (1928–2004).

Patricia Z. Phillips won an art scholarship to study fashion illustration at Pratt Institute in New York, but her art career was interrupted by World War II. She expressed her creativity through photography, quilt-making, wreath-making, sewing, and needlework, among many other creative crafts.

Daughter Bonnie Gardner (born Roberta Whitney Zoeller) was also a noted artist, carrying on the family tradition of artistic expression. Visit the web site Bonnie's Art to view and purchase from over 450 paintings in a wide variety of genres, including people, animals, flower paintings, still lives, landscapes, and abstracts.

Bonnie was adept at many mediums, including watercolor, pastels, oil, and mixed media, and she enjoyed teaching, particularly children and senior citizens. Of special note are Bonnie's portraits of celebrities and well-known figures, as well as images of a wide range of intriguing human and animal faces.

Bonnie died tragically in 2004 in a car crash. Her artwork is made available by her daughter, celebrated singer/songwriter Kari Tieger, at the web site Bonnie's Art.

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Grandchildren of Robert Zoeller

The six grandchildren of Robert and Sally Zoeller include:

• P.J. Gardner of Arlington, Massachusetts
• Wendy Gail Musumeci of Austin, Pennsylvania
• David Perry Gardner of Colorado Springs, Colorado
• Barbara Gardner Ferrero of Winter Park, Florida
• Daniel Tieger of Manchester-by-the Sea, Massachusetts
• Kari Tieger Brennan of Riverside, Rhode Island

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Robert Zoeller Portraits by Family Members

The portrait of Robert Zoeller on the left was painted by Sara Whitney Olds in 1953. The portrait on the right was painted by Bonnie Gardner in 1975.

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Robert Zoeller's Parents

Robert Zoeller's parents were Caroline Amanda Dowden and William (or Wilhelm) Frederick Zoeller, who were married on August 5, 1880. Robert Frederick Zoeller was born on July 19, 1894, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was the youngest of four surviving children, two other siblings having died in infancy. He had two older brothers, Joseph Roy and Carl, and one sister, Carrie Friedericke, who married Chester Gerhig.