Harry McGoodwin Zimmerman, Jr.

Harry McGoodwin Zimmerman, Jr., devoted husband, father, grandfather, brother, and friend, died of natural causes at the age of eighty-one on September 13, 2026, in Hammond, Louisiana. Born on May 25, 1945, in Louisville, Kentucky, he was the son of Harry McGoodwin Zimmerman and Evelyn Elizabeth (Johnson) Zimmerman.

In 1963, Harry graduated from Newcomerstown (Ohio) High School. That fall he matriculated at the College of William and Mary. In 1964 he transferred to Louisiana State University, where he earned a law degree in 1970. He was an editor of the LSU Law Review and became a talented commercial transactional attorney. He began his legal career at the New Orleans law firm of Stone, Pigman. A close colleague from that era emphasizes Harry’s creative mind and calls him a “brilliant attorney.” During the savings and loan crisis of the late 1970s and early 1980s, Harry served for a time as Associate General Counsel and Director, Division of Securities and Corporate Analysis at Fannie Mae, a government-backed financial services company in Washington, DC. He later returned to New Orleans to continue private practice. One of his notable achievements in transactional law was providing the legal framework for Popeyes’ successful hostile takeover of Church’s Fried Chicken. The buyout made Popeyes the second-largest fast-food fried chicken chain in the world, trailing only Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) at the time.

When asked, Harry loved to recount tales from his years as an attorney, for example, stories of judges who were stern captains of their own court rooms. One day on his way to a meeting in a judge’s chambers in the State Supreme Court Building in the French Quarter, Harry characteristically paused for a shoe-shine. This decision caused him to arrive late for the meeting. When the punctilious judge chewed him out, Harry replied: “But Your Honor, just look at these shoes!” The Judge looked down, rolled his eyes up, and then continued with the business at hand. The law took Harry to some strange places. For one big case, the only thing that could save his client was a signed document that—if it existed—would be stored in a small, decrepit building on the rural outskirts. Sweltering in the summer heat, swatting away flies and bees, and compelled to remove the coat of his elegant three-piece suit, he spent hours combing through documents in dozens of file boxes, until—Eureka!—he found the smoking gun.

Harry was a lifelong devoté of the arts. In the mid-1970s, as a young attorney, he helped to found and to provide key legal advice for the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC). His artistic interests ranged from classical music and opera (Puccini’s Madame Butterfly was a favorite) to paintings, prints, photography, and sculpture. A stunning art collection adorned the Palladian-style mansion in Covington he shared with his wife, Dr. Nancy Mellin. His literary interests were vast, including obscure European authors as well as American masters. Over decades, he acquired an in-depth appreciation of the literary and artistic attainments of Western civilization, from the ancient Greeks and Romans to Renaissance painters and poets, and into modern times. Had he not chosen to go into the law, he would have made an outstanding literature professor, interpreting Tolstoy, Dickens, Proust and Sigrid Unset with the same flair he argued his legal briefs. In retirement, Harry became not only an even more avid reader (if such were possible) but also wrote two as yet unpublished novels.

Harry was blessed with prodigious energy, some of which he expended over the decades on clearing and maintaining gardens and grounds of three consecutive Northshore residences. He was also an excellent athlete. A lifeguard in his youth, he later completed the New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon. One of his greatest pleasures was running for miles on the white beaches of Destin and Seagrove, Florida. He became an Ashtanga yoga instructor and was often spotted standing on his head at home and at a nearby gym. He even traveled to India to study with the Ashtanga yoga guru. He taught yoga and spin classes for many years on the Northshore. He became a golf enthusiast, wielding a Big Bertha driver. Its enormous head, however, did not necessarily improve the results of his tee shots. For the past several years, he suffered a growing number of infirmities that curtailed his physical activities. Undeterred, he focused his immense energy on reading.

After the death of his parents, Harry gladly assumed the role of pater familias. As the eldest of eight children-- his siblings called him “Big Boy,”-- he relished being the head of the family. He was devoted to his grandchildren and followed their lives and careers, as well as those of other family members, with intense interest and candidly offered advice—and more—when asked. At their gracious home Harry and Nancy hosted numerous festive gatherings for family and friends. Harry was also a friend of Bill for forty years and helped many newcomers.

Harry so loved his wife, Nancy. Married for 31 years, they supported one another through intense periods of trial, success, and illness. They traveled widely in Europe and the US, collected art, and doted on their children and grandchildren. Together they worked passionately to make their houses, gardens, and lives as gracious and beautiful as they both imagined. As busy professionals, they also notably encouraged each other in their legal and medical pursuits. But crucially, in the face of their immense obligations, they always made time and space to be together daily. They particularly loved going to Grayton Beach. Nancy was Harry’s rock not only in his final years of illness, but throughout their married life. He just adored her—and was so proud of all she had accomplished.

Harry is survived by his wife, Nancy Ruth Mellin, MD; his daughter, Natasha Zimmerman Wilson (Matthew Christopher Wilson) and her four children, Isabel Berkley Wilson, Sophia Curcio Wilson, Thomas Harry Wilson, and James Paul Wilson; his step-children, Robert Saunders Conroy, Jr. and Shannon Mellin Conroy (Steven Jacob Olefsky) and two step-grandchildren, Zoey Wynn Olefsky and Oliver Rhys Olefsky.

Harry was the eldest of eight children. He has five surviving siblings: Michael Edward Zimmerman (Teresa Andrea Toulouse), Barbara Coleraine Dirks, Eric Brady Zimmerman (Margaret Ryniker), Philip Miles Zimmerman (Jennifer), and Robert Alan Zimmerman (Tracy). Two siblings--John Patrick Zimmerman and Katherine Ann Zimmerman--predeceased him. Harry delighted in his nineteen nieces and nephews.

Harry will be dearly missed by family and friends who appreciated his abilities as a raconteur, his wry observations about life, his wonderful eccentricities, his generosity as head of the family, and his willingness to provide thoughtful advice for those who sought him out. Harry’s passing leaves a place that cannot be filled.

Harry lived life head-on. Twenty years ago Nancy commissioned a beautiful portrait of him, in the style of Hans Holbein, costumed as a Renaissance scholar/prince. Above his likeness runs a Latin phrase, “Vita, experientia maxima hominis.” Life, man’s greatest experience.

The family wishes to express thanks to the dedicated nurses and staff at the Phoenix at Hammond, particularly Erica Batiste and Touche Jackson who took such loving and compassionate care of Harry.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend a Funeral Mass on Thursday, October 8, 2026, at Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd., New Orleans, Louisiana 70124 at 12:00 p.m. Visitation will be from 10:00 a.m. until service time. Interment will follow in Metairie Cemetery. To view and sign the Family online guestbook, please visit www.lakelawnmetairie.com