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Many remember her as the face of Takoma Park's annual Independence Day Parade. Others recall her tireless work in city government. But those who knew her best describe Belle Ziegler an inspirational motivator and family woman who left an indelible mark on Takoma Park.

"I'm missing a great friend," said Joyce Seamans, wife of Ward 4 City Councilman Terry Seamans and a friend. "[Belle Ziegler] brought out the best in people. She was never one to think that there was someone without a good part of them. … She created people, I think."

Ziegler, who died Dec. 14 at age 88 after a months-long battle with uterine cancer, served in a variety of city government positions after moving to Takoma Park in 1956. Friends, family members and co-workers praised her as a hard-working, visionary city official who founded the Takoma Park Recreation Department, served as its director, and held other city government positions, while inspiring others to get involved.

"She was an influence; she set the path," said Joanne Mood, who grew up in Takoma Park volunteering for Ziegler and is now the recreation department director for the City of Hyattsville. "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Belle."

Terry Seamans said he was talking to a young man at Ziegler's funeral Thursday who told him how Ziegler enlisted him in a volunteering effort.

"He said he had … been walking down the hall at the Community Center and Belle said, ‘Excuse me, I need to talk to you,'" Seamans said. "The next thing he knew he was involved with helping the recreation department."

Ziegler was diagnosed with uterine cancer in August. Despite initial success in treatment, the cancer spread and Ziegler died Dec. 14 at the Casey House Montgomery Hospice in Rockville.

Her funeral was held Dec. 18 at the All Souls Church, Unitarian in Northwest, Washington, D.C., and was attended by many past and present city employees, friends and family, including Mayor Bruce Williams and Ziegler's two adult children, Douglas and Dolores Ziegler.

Douglas and Dolores said their mother loved outdoor activities such as camping and travel and described her as a dedicated family woman who collected music boxes with more than 100 in her collection.

With Belle, "Family was first, friends were second, people were important," Douglas said, recalling his mother's generosity.

"Christmas and Thanksgiving she'd invite everyone over to the house. Not just the family, but anyone," he said. "I remember when I was in high school and there was a good friend of mine and … he was home alone for Thanksgiving that year and she said, ‘Well, call him and get him over here,' so we had two dinners that year."

A former president of the Independence Day Committee, Douglas said he spent many years helping his mother design floats for the city's annual parade, often winning first place and sharing their floats with neighboring cities.

"She had a heart as big as the world," Dolores said.

Mayor Williams described Ziegler as "the heart and soul of the community." He said in his first encounter with Ziegler she got him to donate a truck from his contracting company to pull floats in the Independence Day Parade.

"I think it was probably before I was on the City Council and she was still the recreation director. … I was in charge of a float in Takoma Park parade for Takoma Park lesbians and gays, and we won a trophy. So I went in and talked with her in the recreation department and when she found out I had a big truck, she said, ‘Oh, we always need a big truck to help in the parades, would you make your truck available for the parade?'" Williams said. "So every year since then my dump truck for my contracting business has been in the parade."

Takoma Park Volunteer Fire Department Chief James Jarboe said Ziegler was a wonderful person, who was committed to hard work on the Independence Day Committee, which she helped to organize for 40 years.

"She would call me at the firehouse and say, ‘Jimmy, can we get a fire truck for this parade?'" he said. "She'll be truly missed and I know that next year at the parade everything will revolve around her."

Ziegler, a single mother, balanced raising her two children and a career with the city. In Takoma Park government, she served as a city secretary in 1960 and then as deputy city clerk in 1966 before becoming the recreation department director in 1967. She introduced the city's first youth outreach coordinator to oversee drug prevention efforts and youth job fairs. She also revamped the city's recreation department, adding weekly roller skating lessons in the basement of the old fire house, Easter egg hunts and other holiday and annual events such as the Fourth of July parade.

"At the present time, at age 88, she was still getting the Independence Day Parade on the road," Mood said of Ziegler's dedication.

The last of seven children born to Joseph Edley and Georgiana Evangaline Thompson, who emigrated from Jamaica to Medina, Ohio, Ziegler is survived by her son and daughter, a granddaughter, Angelina of San Francisco, eight nieces and nephews and 12 great-nieces and nephews from around the United States and Canada.