Dates

• Existence: 1904 - 1997

Biography

Zella May Farris was born on August 13, 1904 in Mt. Auburn, Iowa. Farris grew up with five sisters: Pearl, Hazel, Vera, Wilma and Grace. Her first husband was Carl Telander. Farris later married Robert Gerber. She had no children. Zella, who was known as Zev to friends and family, worked as a secretary on the Haines Military Cut-Off Road government project at the Chilkoot Barracks in Haines, Alaska in 1943. From 1944-1945 she worked as a secretary to the resident engineer for the Kellex Corporation at the Oak Ridge Atomic Plant in Tennessee.

Zella and her husband Robert Gerber also served with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Osmara, Ethiopia. Robert Gerber was a Civil Engineer and Zella served as secretary for Bob Bosshard. While in Ethiopia, Robert Gerber fell asleep in bed while smoking, badly burning his left arm. He had to be shipped to a hospital in Germany where they amputated his arm, and then to Great Lakes Naval Station in the U.S. to recover. Zella was required to stay in Osmara for several months and finish their tour of duty before she could join him.

Zella May Gerber died July 5, 1997.

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