Longtime veterans community icon, 95

An icon of the Northwest Florida veterans community has died.

Retired Chief Master Sgt. Bill Zell, one of the founders and the longtime master of ceremonies for the Fort Walton Beach Veterans Day and Memorial Day ceremonies, died early Monday at his home at the Meridian at Westwood retirement community. He was 95.

A World War II veteran, Zell served as a radioman in the U.S. Navy in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters from 1942 to 1945. After the war ended, he joined what was then known as the Army Air Forces, retiring at the highest non-commissioned officer rank in 1975.

“His personal motto was ‘duty, honor, country,’” said Zell’s son-in-law, Doug Heaton of Gulf Breeze. “It wasn’t just a saying to him. He meant it from the bottom of his heart.”

After retiring from the Air Force, Zell went to work for the Okaloosa County Planning and Zoning Department. For about 25 years, he was the tireless force behind the annual Memorial Day and Veterans Day ceremonies at Beal Memorial Cemetery.

Tom Rice, who in recent years assumed the emcee duties, said Zell was naturally suited for the job of organizing and putting on the ceremonies.

“It was a massive undertaking to organize all of the groups that were involved,” Rice said. “But he still had the chops of an old NCO as far as keeping track of everyone. And as an old radio announcer, he was always comfortable in front of a microphone.”

Zell was born in Highland Park, Ill., and before joining the Navy worked in show business as a radio and vaudeville theater announcer in Chicago.

“He was extremely outgoing, very caring, giving and 100 percent dedicated to the veterans,” Heaton said. “He was active in so many organizations, such as the Disabled American Veterans, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Elks Lodge, and the Hurlburt Chiefs Group.”

Heaton said Zell also donated his time to charities such as Sharing and Caring, and served on the board of directors of the Veterans Tribute Tower Committee and the Emerald Coast Honor Flight.

Long after he passed on his emcee duties to Rice, Zell was a fixture at the cemetery ceremonies, sitting in a place of honor and often leading the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance. He would greet female visitors with a kiss on the hand, and was always happy to share stories about World War II with audiences of all sorts.

Rice recalled that when the Emerald Coast Honor Flight was organized in 2007 to take local World War II veterans to Washington, D.C., to see the World War II memorial, Zell insisted that he wanted to go along.

“The thing was, he didn’t want to go as a veteran — he wanted to go as a helper,” Rice said with a chuckle. “We finally had to get Congressman Jeff Miller to tell him that he had to go as our guest. It literally took an order from a congressman to make him agree.”

This year’s Veterans Day ceremony was the first time in just about anyone’s memory that Zell wasn’t present. His absence was keenly felt.

“We stopped by to pick him up, but he just didn’t feel up to going,” Rice said. “It didn’t seem right not having him there.”

Zell’s wife of 56 years, Helen, diedpassed away in February. He is survived by a daughter and a son, two grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

“He’s going to be missed,” Rice said. “He will always be considered our emcee emeritus.”