Alan Zaiser

Major Alan Robert Zaiser (formerly Alan Llewellyn Zaiser, 79, a career United States Air Force Officer, died in St. Petersburg, FL, July 21, 2021, of natural causes. Mr. Zaiser was born January 17, 1942, at St. Anthony's Hospital in St. Petersburg to Marion Llewellyn Brown Zaiser(Snider) of St. Petersburg and U.S. Army Air Corps Lt. Col. Robert Alan Zaiser of Burlington, IA, a 1938 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, a senior bomber piolet during World War II, and commanding officer of Muroc Flight Test Base(Later renamed Edwards Air Force Base) in California at the dawn of jet flight. He was a fourth generation Floridian and a member of a pioneer Florida family. Mr. Zaiser attended Sunny Hours Preschool at St. Pete Beach, North Shore Elementary School and Lealman Junior High School and graduated with honors from Northeast High School in St. Petersburg in 1960, where he was in the National Honor Society and Rotary sponsored Wheel Club and earned letters in varsity swimming. He was a Star in the Boy Scouts. He was baptized and confirmed at St. Peters Episcopal Cathedral and an acolyte at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in St. Petersburg. Mr. Zaiser graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs, CO, with a B.S degree, and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Air Force in 1964. After graduation, he completed Basic and Advanced Flight School at Moody Air Force Base at Valdosta, GA, and paratroop training at Ft. Benning, GA. He flew KC-135s in the Strategic Air Command at Kinchloe Air Force Base at Kinross, MI, from 1965 to 1967. He was transferred to the Tactical Air Command and was a Forward Air Controller in O-1s, O-2s and OV-10s in Vietnam in 1967 and 1968. He flew A26-s in Special Operations in Vietnam in 1969. He flew 499 combat missions and earned two Distinguished Flying Crosses, 29 Air Combat Medals and two Purple Hearts during the Vietnam War. Upon return to the United States, he was stationed at Hurlburt Field at Ft. Walton Beach, FL from 1970 to 1973 and served at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, FL, until his retirement from the Air Force in 1984. Thereafter, he owned and operated a marine supply store in St. Petersburg for many years. He owned and restored numerous powerboats and sailboats throughout his lifetime to enjoy his love of boating. He taught boating and safety courses for the Coast Guard Auxiliary. He was a longtime member of the St. Petersburg Yacht Club. He was preceded in death by his maternal great grandparents Anny Struby Brown(1942) and Llewellyn Buford Brown(1944), the owner/editor/publisher of the former St. Petersburg Evening Independent from 1908 to 1944 who originated from the Sunshine Offer to give away free the entire edition of the newspaper each day the sun failed to shine on the newspaper office by press time for which St. Petersburg was named the "Sunshine City", he maternal grandparents Edwina Ames Brown(1968) and Llewellyn Chauncey Brown(1978), and his mother(2007) and father(1947). He was predeceased by his wife Setsuko Hayashi Zaiser(2010) and is survived by his daughter Edwina Shizuko("Happi") Zaiser of Dunedin, FL, his son Ken Alan Zaiser(wife Courtney) of Wesley Chapel, FL, his brother Kent Ames Zaiser(companion Barbara Johnson) of Tallahassee, FL, and his stepsons John P. Keating of Sunnyvale, CA, and Michael D. Keating of Clearwater, FL. Mr. Zaiser and his family and friends are deeply grateful to St. Anthony's Hospital and Hospice of the Suncoast for caring for and comforting him during his final illness. A memorial service with military honors will be at 11:00am EDT Friday, August 27, at Royal Palm Cemetery South, 101 55th Street South, St. Petersburg, FL, followed by disposition of his remains in the family plot. Family and friends are cordially invited. He suggested that memorial contributions in lieu of flowers be made to Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, 501 6th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701; Suncoast Hospice Foundation, 5771 Roosevelt Blvd., Clearwater, FL 33760; or your preferred charity.