The Zerbe Family
721 Waverly Road
The Zerbes lived nearby to my family in the Willard School part of Ridgewood. After all the boys were safely out of the house they moved to Hilton Head Island, SC and then to Florida. My family followed the same trail and we’ve remain connected all these years.
I can safely say that Mrs. Zerbe’s Mom was one of the best babysitters my younger brother and I ever had. (Babysitter is a quaint term for the person left in charge of the kids while the parents took a much needed vacation without them.)
By the time Mrs Schwab was our babysitter we were no longer babies. In fact, my older brother Peter was enrolled in prep school at Andover and only my brother Don and I were left in her charge. She knew boys very well from having 4 grandsons living nearby. Doug was my age and used to ask me in Junior High School how I liked having his grandmother in charge. I would sheepishly say she was fine. We always minded her and she never had to raise her voice to keep us in line. My own grandmother had taught us the lessons of respect for our elders so nothing changed.
Zerbe Family on Hilton Head Island, SC— 1996
My wonderful parents looking good both then,1949, and now, 2017. Happy 91st birthday, Dad! Mother’s 90th is in December!—Jack Zerbe
Zerbe Boys
Jack and Ryan Margheim, July 2017
Cecily Z. Refined in the Emily Post mold, but more importantly, highly educated and still smart as a whip. Eternally curious. Always learning. Our matriarch. A female leader long before it was common or even accepted.—Jack Zerbe
55 years later…simply remarkable how we are ever the same. Love you, brothers!—Jack Zerbe