The Art Institute of Chicago, where Zettler studied, awarded him the Potter Palmer Gold Medal in 1917 for his colored plaster sculpture Job.
[3] He often worked with Prairie School architect George Grant Elmslie.
In 1931, Zettler married Edythe L. Flack, one of the Institute's assistant deans.
The Institute commissioned Zettler to redesign its Frank G. Logan Medal.
Zettler was tasked with designing the official medals for the Century of Progress World's Fair in 1933.