George Clooney calls his sister, Ada, who died of cancer Friday. “My hero.”
The Oscar-winning actor told People magazine that Ada, his only sibling, “faced down cancer with courage and humor. I’ve never met anyone so brave. Amal and I will miss her terribly."
Adelia “Ada” (née Clooney) Zeidler, of Augusta, Ky., “died peacefully surrounded by the people she loved’ Friday, Dec. 19, 2025 at St. Elizabeth Healthcare, according to her obituary posted at Metcalfe-Hennessey Funeral Home in Augusta. She was 65.
Ada was born on May 2, 1960, to Nick and Nina Clooney, then living in Los Angeles, Calif., her obituary says. George was born a year later, on May 6, 1961, in Lexington, Ky., where his father was a TV and radio newsman.
She married Norman Zeidler, a retired U.S. Army captain, in Augusta on March 14, 1987, according to People magazine. He died on October 11, 2004.
“A talented artist, she shared her skills as an elementary art teacher at Augusta Independent School for several years,” her obituary says.
“In high school, her academic achievements qualified her to be a National Merit Scholar. Her love for reading connected her with other readers in a local book club. She was also a member of the Augusta Art Guild and was a past grand marshal of Augusta’s Annual White Christmas Parade.”
When WLW TV and radio hired Nick Clooney in 1966 from Lexington, the family moved to Fort Mitchell, Ky. They also lived in Mason before moving in the mid 1970s to Augusta, about 20 miles west of Maysville, Ky., her father’s hometown.
She is survived in by her parents; her children, Nick Zeidler and Allison Zeidler Herolaga and her husband, Kenny; her brother, George Clooney and his wife, Amal; and several uncles, aunts, and cousins, the obit states.
Mass of Christian Burial will be noon Monday Dec. 22 at St. Patrick Catholic Church, 110 E. Third St., in Maysville. The Rev. Augustine Aidoo will officiate.
Private interment will be in the St. Patrick Cemetery in Washington, Ky, where her aunt Rosemary Clooney is buried.
The family suggests that memorial contributions could be made to Knoedler Memorial Library, 315 Main St., Augusta, Ky., 41002.
