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Loretta Zedella
by Deb Rich
 Loretta Zedella grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. Her parents were kind, accepting and generous people. Her father was a progressive thinker who fought in WWII. He attended college on the GI Bill and earned his degree in civil engineering, often hosting dinners for his coworkers from India, exposing his family to different cultures. Her mother’s father was a coal miner who died from a coal mine collapse after contracting black lung disease. Though her mother was not overtly political, she opposed dependence on coal and was a champion of young widows.
Loretta married her husband Mark shortly after graduating from high school and had four children. The two met doing a theater production and have remained strong proponents of the arts. Several of their LGBTQ friends were in their wedding party and ceremony. Mark was active in the union at the telephone company. Both have passed their progressive ideas on to their children and grandchildren, and the entire family participated in the Women’s March 2017 in their respective cities.
They lived in Columbus, Ohio for much of their married life. Lorretta earned a degree in writing as well as a yoga teaching certificate, making use of it by teaching yoga to the students at Ohio Wesleyan University as well as many other locations. While living in Columbus, she participated in peaceful protests against the war in Iraq. Her commitment to working for equal rights was reinforced when a former student who was gay committed suicide.
Loretta has made LGBTQ acceptance a priority, stating, “Why would I question who loves whom? I was fortunate enough to have found my partner at a young age. Why would I place restrictions on whom someone else chooses?”
After visiting Asheville for over 14 years, Loretta and Mark moved to Fletcher in 2019. She attended the first Hendersonville Pride picnic in 2019 and was there again this year taking over 200 photos in her photo booth, wearing rainbow butterfly wings.
She is also interested in civil rights, especially since moving to the south. Her northern upbringing treated the Civil War like ancient history, but since moving here she has researched and visited many of the cities at the heart of the civil rights movement, providing greater understanding about issues inherent to the start of the Civil War. Loretta says, “To see this division replicated in this decade has been sobering”.
Loretta is currently teaching yoga and mobility at a private facility and also operates her business Butterfly Flight: Whimsical Wings to Wear. She makes, models and sells her wares at local festivals and markets.
The couple’s travels within the states as well as Europe, Mexico and Canada have cemented their belief that all people are worthy of respect and dignity. In her words, “people are people”. Both are avid hikers and “stewards of this beautiful mountain ecosystem”. Though both are busy, he at the Pisgah National Forest Visitor Center and she as a Bee City USA volunteer and HOA board member, Loretta says, “We’ll continue to travel, learn about other people, and respect their basic human dignity, as long as we live.” Thank you Loretta, for all you do, with such joy and commitment.
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