Thelma Tight Pelton

Thelma Tight was the oldest daughter, and the fourth of five children born to Fred and Louise Yeager Tight. She was born on June 19, 1910. The Fred Tight family lived in Perkins Township, Erie County, Ohio. Thelma was my first cousin twice removed, and she was a first cousin to my paternal grandmother Emma Yeager Orshoski.




















Thelma's mother, Louise Yeager Tight, emigrated from Germany to the United States with her family in 1881. In 1928, when Thelma was 18 years old, her parents had another baby girl, named Mary Louise Yeager. Sadly, on September 7, 1928, when Mary Louise was just an infant, Louise Yeager Tight took her own life, after becoming despondent over ill health. With Mrs. Tight having died at a young age, Thelma must have played a vital role in helping to raise her baby sister Mary Louise Yeager. An article in the July 12, 1933 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal reported that Thelma Tight hosted a birthday party for Mary Louise's fifth birthday.
















By 1944, Thelma had become Mrs. Kenneth J. Pelton. Her husband, formerly a Sandusky mail carrier, was stationed in England, serving as a Corporal in the U.S. Army during World War Two. In 1946, Thelma and Kenneth had their only child, a daughter named Majorie Pelton. When Thelma's baby sister Mary Louise Tight married Eugene A. Wasserman, in 1948, the news article about the Wasserman marriage reported that Mary Louise had made her home with her sister Thelma and brother in law Kenneth prior to her marriage. (The article appeared in the November 24, 1948 issue of the Sandusky Register Star News.) In the late 1970's, I had the pleasure of working with Thelma's daughter Marjorie, at Margaretta Junior High School. Later, Marge was my son's elementary Art teacher. Marge was a "no-nonsense" kind of teacher, and she was a pleasure to work with.

Mrs. Thelma Tight Pelton passed away on December 3, 1987. I never got a chance to get to know her, as I didn't realize we were connected until after her death. Thelma was buried at Sandusky's Calvary Cemetery, beside her beloved husband Kenneth J. Pelton.

Emma Teut

Emma Teut, daughter of J. K. Teut is buried in Deyo Cemetery in Groton Township of Erie County. Emma's name is found in the 1880 Erie County Census in Groton Township with her family, whose surname is spelled Tite in that year's census. Later the family surname would be spelled Tight. Family members listed in 1880 are:

John Tite, age 50, born in Mecklenburg
Carie, age 44, born in Mecklenburg

Emma, age 16, born in Ohio
Lewis, age 14, born in Ohio
Sophi, age 12, born in Ohio
John, age 10, born in Ohio
Adam, age 8, born in Ohio
Frederick, age 6, born in Ohio

Emma died on November 15, 1881, while still in her teens. Her grave marker features a hand with a finger pointing upward to heaven.

Sadly, Emma's brother Adam, and his son Arthur, were both victims of the Cleveland Clinic Fire of 1929. Emma's nephew Alvin Tight, another son of Adam, became a successful physician in Sandusky, Ohio.

Adam J. and Arthur Tight, Victims of the 1929 Cleveland Clinic Disaster

The 1929 OBITUARY NOTEBOOK, housed in the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library, contains three pages of articles reporting on the deaths of Adam J. Tight, a well known Sandusky contractor, and his son Arthur Tight. The father and son both died as a result of of being overcome by poisonous fumes after a series of explosions which swept through the Cleveland Clinic. The explosions began in the X-Ray department. A total of 123 individuals died and 92 people were injured in the Cleveland Clinic disaster.

On Wednesday, May 15, 1929, Arthur Tight went to the Cleveland Clinic for an examination, and his father Adam accompanied him. Both men died shortly after the explosion in the X-Ray Department, which was followed by fire. Carl Sartor of the Frey Funeral Home brought back the remains of Adam Tight, while Ed Andres from the Charles J. Andres Sons Funeral Home brought back the body of Arthur Tight. Mrs. Tight was devastated by the news of the death of both her husband and son.

Members of the Elks Lodge and the Knights of Columbus paid their respects to the Tight family on Sunday. Funeral services for Adam and Arthur Tight took place on Monday, May 20. Arthur's funeral services were conducted first at the family residence on Carr Street, and then a high mass was held at St. Mary's Catholic Church, with the Rev. Father W. C. Zierolf as celebrant. Adam Tight's funeral services were held on Monday afternoon at the family home, with Lutheran pastor Rev. Theodore Stellhorn officiating.

Besides the widow, Mrs. Catherine Tight, Adam Tight was survived by a son Alvin, and a daughter Mrs. Eugene Thomas. Alvin Tight, a college student at the time of his father and brother's deaths, later become a successful physician in Sandusky. Adam J. Tight and Arthur Tight were buried in St. Mary's Cemetery, along with Mrs. Catherine Tight, who passed away in 1962.