Clarence Donald Zierhut

Clarence was born in Los Angeles California as the third of four children of Peter Zierhut and Elizabeth (Sentner) Zierhut. Clarence had what he described as a happy childhood with his brother and two sisters, despite most of it taking place during the Great Depression. He attended public schools in Los Angeles. When he became draft age at the end of World War II he joined the US Army, eventually going to post-war Japan to assist in the reconstruction and serving in General MacArthur’s Honor Guard. After the Army he used the GI Bill to attend Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design. He then went to Detroit Michigan to design automobiles for Ford as well as products for various other design firms. He decided to come home to Los Angeles to create his own design office, Zierhut Vedder Shimano Industrial Design (ZVS), along with his brother, friend and brother-in-law. In 1957 he married Joan (Terpening) Zierhut and soon had a growing family of five children. In 1974 he moved his family and business to Dallas Texas. Over the next 47 years he would live in Dallas, Richardson, eventually settling in Garland. He designed products for Texas Instruments, Gillette, Papermate, Timex, Abbott Laboratories, Retractable Technologies and many others through his company Zierhut Design. The Zierhut family were long time members of St. Paul's parish in Richardson where all the children went to elementary school. Because of his passion for design Clarence never really retired, continuing to design products into his late eighties as well as doing fine art into his nineties. He lived to the age of 93. He was a devoted husband, father and grandfather and will be greatly missed.

Clarence was preceded in death by his wife Joan (1926 - 1994) and is survived by his five children: Anthony, Clare, Kathleen, Loretta and Marie, their spouses: Joan, John, Tony and Linda, and his six grandchildren: Elliot, Simon, Oliver, Jack, Jane and Lily.

A graveside service for Clarence will be held Wednesday, August 25, 2021 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at Calvary Hill Cemetery, 3235 Lombardy Ln, Dallas, TX 75220.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.gonzalezfuneralsdallas.com for the Zierhut family.