Edgar was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1895, a son of John Adam Zimmer and his wife, Alice Stock.  Edgar, his wife Emma Elizabeth Wuest, and their three children lived in St. Louis.

Edgar enlisted in the United States Navy during World War One as a Landsman Machinist Mate-Aviation, and served at the Naval Air Station in Paulillac, France.  He was promoted to the Chief Machinists Mate-Aviation, and while--to the best of my knowledge--he never flew an official mission, Edgar did begin Naval Aviation Pilots training before the end of the war.  With the armistice, he was transferred to the Naval Repair Base at Eastleigh, England until his discharge in July, 1919.

Returning to St. Louis, Edgar opened a Buick dealership across the Mississippi in East St. Louis, Illinois, in 1923.  East Side Buick was initially established at 236 N. 10th Street, but soon relocated to its long-time location at 1910 State Street, where it remained until Edgar sold the business in 1950. 

During the heyday of East St. Louis gang wars, several of the major gangsters, like Buster Wortman, fancied big Buicks and purchased their cars at East Side Buick. As machine gun and grenade assassinations were not unusual occurences, the gangsters presence in the showroom inspecting new models in front of the large plate-glass windows always caused employees concern.