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Herbert Keyser
Zearfoss, Esq.
1929 - 2008
Herbert Keyser Zearfoss, son of the late Dean W. and Susan
(Keyser) Zearfoss was a native of Montandon, Pennsylvania.
In 1953, he married Thelma McCarthy, who preceded him in
death in 1984. Mr. and Mrs. Zearfoss had three children,
Timothy McCarthy Zearfoss, Jonathan Andrew Zearfoss, and
Sarah Creighton Zearfoss. Mrs. Zearfoss died in 1984. Mr.
Zearfoss married, in 1992, Suzanne Vander Veer.
Mr. Zearfoss was a 1947 graduate of Middleburg High
School, where he participated in sports and plays and was
a member of the band. He earned his B.A. in political
science from Bucknell University in 1951. Mr. Zearfoss
attended Yale University and joined the Navy. He was a
Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve from 1954
to 1958 and in the latter year earned the Doctor
of Jurisprudence degree from American University.
Mr. Zearfoss enjoyed a brilliant career as an attorney.
He was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar and opened a law
office in Lewisburg in 1959, practicing as Fetter and
Zearfoss. He then joined the Fidelity Mutual Life
Insurance Company in Philadelphia, where he served as
Assistant Counsel from 1960 to 1967. He was a Justice of
the Peace in Radnor Township, Delaware County from 1966 to
1967 and an officer in the Insurance Federation of
Pennsylvania from 1967 to 1968. In 1968 he was elected a
State Representative to the Pennsylvania General Assembly
and served for five terms, 1968 to 1978. He then returned
to the Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Company, where he
served from 1978 through 1982 as Senior Vice President and
General Counsel. In 1982 he joined Provident Indemnity
Life Insurance, where he served as Senior Vice President,
Secretary, and General Counsel. From 1991 until his
retirement in 2001 he was Assistant General Counsel and
Assistant Secretary at Teleflex, Inc.
Memberships
* Delaware State Society of the Cincinnati (former member
of the General
Society Standing Committee; former Treasurer of the Delaware
Society)
* Society of Colonial Wars in the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania
* General Society of the War of 1812 (former President
General)
* Colonial Society of Pennsylvania (former Governor)
* Netherlands Society of Philadelphia (former President)
* General Society Sons of the Revolution (former Vice President
of the
Pennsylvania Society)
* Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States
(former Judge-
Advocate-in-Chief;
former Commander of the Pennsylvania
Commandery
)
* National Society Sons of the American Revolution
* National Huguenot Society (former Treasurer of the
Huguenot Society of
Pennsylvania)
* Welcome Society of Pennsylvania
Other Notes
Mr. Zearfoss was perhaps best known, as the cheerful,
engaged and inspirational leader of volunteer
organizations throughout the Delaware Valley. His
interests were expansive, stretching, for example, from
the Boy Scouts of America to the Civil War and Underground
Railroad Museum of Philadelphia (where he served as
Treasurer at the time of his death).
In 1945, Herb became the first Eagle Scout in Middleburg.
He attended Camp Karoondinha and was a camp counselor. He
was an inspirational leader of organizations such as the
Boy Scouts, which honored him with the Silver Beaver Award
in 1989. He was president of the Genealogy Society of
Pennsylvania for 13 years, and was elected honorary
president for life, just two weeks before his death. Mr.
Zearfoss was also a Kentucky Colonel.
Mr. Zearfoss was a member of the Merion Cricket Club and
the Philadelphia Club. He worshipped at Bryn Mawr
Presbyterian Church, where he sang in the choir. |
