City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremation
Obituary
Richard Louis Ziegler
Raleigh , North Carolina
Age 74.
Died 12/08/2021.
Richard was born in Fern Creek, Kentucky on Christmas Day, 1946 to Charles and Mary Agnes Ziegler. “Happy Hollow” was his first home where he and his three siblings lived on a small dairy farm. It was there where he learned the value of hard work and treating others right. His parents passed away in 1958, and two years later he moved to live with an aunt and uncle in Belleville, NJ. There he attended high school and became a record-setting member of the cross country team. His running ability afforded him a track scholarship to Western Kentucky University and allowed him to return to his strong Kentucky roots. At WKU, he was a member of the cross country team and founding member of the SAE fraternity. While there, Richard created the annual football run which will now be known as the SAE Richard Ziegler Spirit/Philanthropy Run.
Following college graduation, he enlisted in Aviation Officers Candidate School of the US Navy. After an honorable discharge from the Navy, Richard moved to Ft. Lauderdale, FL where he met the love of his life and twinkle in his eye, Kathy. They shared an amazingly true love story each and every day for 49 years.
His long standing business career in Atlanta, GA was with Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, where he was one of their top producing agents nationally. Retiring at age 60 to the mountains of Big Canoe, GA, Richard was an avid golfer and became the President of the Men’s Golf Association for several years.
Richard was larger than life! He never met a stranger and would light up a room with his laughter. He was a magnetic guy with whom everyone wanted to be associated. He lived each day to the fullest and believed that you should never take yourself too seriously. Richard’s proudest accomplishments were raising his two daughters, Jessica and Lexie. He loved them beyond measure and never missed a swim meet, a school performance or a football game at which they cheered. He became known to many as “Papa Zig” because he was everyone’s dad at all the school events.
Richard resided in Raleigh, NC, and he is survived by his wife, Kathy Ziegler; his daughter, Jessica Ziegler Newth and husband Ryan and their two children Mary Agnes and Robert; his daughter, Lexie Ziegler Batchelor and her husband Wesley and their two children Bailey and Burnie; his sister, Susanne Ziegler Jeffress and husband Philip; brothers, Charles Lawrence Ziegler and wife Lucille and Keith Ernst Ziegler and wife Lisa; plus many loving nieces and nephews. He loved our family reunions and taught us all how to enjoy life and make the most of the time we had together.
A celebration of Richard’s life will be held at the Big Canoe Chapel on Saturday, January 22, 2022, with a reception to follow. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Duke Raleigh Cancer Center in Raleigh, NC or your favorite charity.
For additional information or for service details, please reach out to the family directly.
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City of Oaks Cremation and Funeral Home is a full-service funeral home in Raleigh, serving all of North Carolina and beyond. We provide an alternative to costly funeral homes and every day we help families in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and all over North Carolina make simple, affordable funeral arrangements.
Simply having to reach out to a funeral home can feel overwhelming. Our goal is to simplify the entire funeral home experience and make the process as easy as possible. We hope to eliminate any unnecessary surprises by publishing our total cost and the services we provide directly on our website. All of our obituaries are provided free of charge as a way to help families celebrate and commemorate the lives of their loved ones.
Our Promise
Apples to Apples
Just like all other licensed funeral homes in North Carolina, City of Oaks Cremation, LLC is regulated by the NC Board of Funeral Service.
The same laws that apply to the big corporate funeral homes also apply to the modest independently owned firms like ours. All crematories in North Carolina, regardless of who owns them, are inspected annually by the state and must adhere to the same rules and laws.
Genuine Care
We're committed to providing families within our community unsurpassed service before, during and after the time of loss.
Our staff will provide clear communication to your family through each step as we move forward from the original phone call notifying us of a death to the time we deliver the urn back to your family. We will treat your family with the utmost respect, as we honor the wishes of your loved one.
We promise to make this process affordable and as endurable as possible.
State Wide
Our Funeral Home is located in Wake County NC; however, we provide our services to families throughout the entire State.
Unlike other funeral homes, we don't charge an additional mileage fee. Regardless of what county you live in, we can help your family with making simple, affordable funeral arrangements. From Asheville to Wilmington, we're proud to help families statewide.
Our Services
$1196.75
Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. We include everything you need for a simple or direct cremation. Simple, affordable and reliable. We have not changed the cost of our direct cremation service since we opened City of Oaks in 2012.
$2875.66
We offer the option of choosing how you receive your loved ones remains. Selecting our Direct Cremation with Solidified Remains option is a beautiful way to transform cremated remains into 40-60 “stones” that you can hold.
$1917.84
City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation option with onsite visitation. Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. Simple, affordable and reliable.
$2497.50
An immediate burial has the same end result as a traditional burial; however, we have eliminated the extra (sometimes unnecessary) services prior to getting to the cemetery. Not everyone wants an open casket for viewing or a limousine for the family. Despite the term immediate, we can move as fast as you need or as slow as you like. This option simply allows you to save money by eliminating some of the fancy extras at the funeral home.
$6081.48
We offer the same traditional funeral services as the big corporately owned funeral homes in the area; however, we cost about half the amount. You might consider a traditional funeral service if your family is looking for an open casket visitation, a traditional church service or a funeral service in the funeral home's chapel. A traditional funeral service can be altered to fit the needs of your family.
$3033.75
This establishment is one of a select number of funeral homes who meet the criteria for providing green funeral service by the Green Burial Council; a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization working to encourage environmentally sustainability in the field of funeral service. Our Green options allow for a funeral to take place without the use of toxic and non-biodegradable materials/chemicals.
$2640.59
As an alternative to traditional cremation, City of Oaks Funeral Home also offers Aquamation. The Aquamation process, often referred to as alkaline hydrolysis, uses a solution of water and potassium hydroxide to facilitate natural decomposition.