Kenneth and Rita Stauffer

E. Kenneth Stauffer, usually known as Ken or Kenny, was an amazing individual. He was born in 1914 in Sandusky, Ohio. During World War Two, Ken served in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He was with the U.S. Infantry Blackhawk Division, fought along the Rhine River in Germany, and received the Medal of Honor and two battle stars. Besides working more than twenty years at the Apex Manufacturing Company, and another twenty years at Mills School, Ken was a sports broadcaster with Sandusky Radio Station WLEC, and he wrote a newspaper column known as "The Sunny Side Of The News" after he and his wife Rita moved to Florida.

Long before I met my husband Tom, he was a first baseman for Mr. Stauffer's traveling baseball team with the Castalia Recreation Department. (My husband Tom is pictured below, when he was about age ten.)






















In Ken's later years, especially after the death of his beloved wife Rita, Tom and Ken stayed in touch through telephone calls and letters. Tom and Ken would vividly recall those Little League days. They could remember exactly what towns they traveled to, who made a good play, and every detail of so many of Castalia's former Little League players. They had a bond that lasted through many, many years. Ken and his son Tom, also a radio broadcaster, were both outstanding athletes in their youth. As a grandfather, Ken coached his grandson, who has special needs, in the Special Olympics.

E. Kenneth Stauffer passed away on February 8, 2004 in Lee County, Florida. Funeral services for Ken Stauffer were held at Holy Angels Catholic Church, and Ken was buried with his wife Rita at Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery. An obituary for E. Kenneth Stauffer appeared in the February 10, 2004 issue of the Morning Journal. Ken and Rita will long be remembered for their love of family, their involvement in the community, and most especially for their many years of nurturing the young people in their lives.

Wordless Wednesday: Sculpture near Babyland Section of Meadow Green Memorial Park

When the Reverend Ate the Whole Pie

From about 1901 until 1941, my great grandparents, Leroy and Ada Parker, ran a big family farm in Perkins Township, Ohio.
















When it was threshing time, several men from the area would work together on getting in one farmer's crops. At the end of the day, the farmer's wife would serve a huge dinner for all the men who had toiled so hard all day. The next day they would take all the farm equipment and men, and move on to the next farm and do the same process all over again. Many a time, my mother re-counted to me the story of Rev. Thompson and the pie. My Great Grandma Ada, along with help from the other ladies, worked all afternoon on making a big dinner for the threshers. She put the pies on the porch to cool, and continued with getting all the other dishes ready. Well, Rev. Herbert Thompson, who pastored at the Perkins Methodist Church, fondly known as the "red brick church," stopped by to pay a visit. He ate a WHOLE pie!






















Grandma Ada was upset, as that was part of the dinner for those men who had been working so hard to get the crops in that day! When Grandma and Grandpa celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary, Rev. Thompson gave a talk at the party, and he fondly recalled the time he ate that whole pie! Mom said that under his breath, Grandpa Roy kept saying, "Well you weren't supposed to eat the whole thing!" Rev. Thompson would go to serve as the General Manager of Lakeside, and he lived to be 96 years of age. He officiated at many family funerals in the Parker and House families who had sat under his ministry in Perkins Township.

Happy Independence Day!

Pictures are from the Independence Day Concert held in Spiegel Grove at the R.B. Hayes Presidential Center on July 4, 2011. Several patriotic numbers were performed, and the 1812 Overture was accompanied by live cannon-fire!

Asa Smith

Asa Smith is buried in Block 10 of Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery. A Revolutionary War marker decorates his grave. The June 1863 issue of the Firelands Pioneer reports that Asa Smith came with his family to Erie County, Ohio in June of 1810. He settled in Huron, on the bank of Lake Erie. He brought peach stones with him from his former home, and planted them. Peaches were produced from these trees in the fall of 1816. Asa Smith died in Huron, Ohio on August 30, 1815.

In the book HISTORY OF HURON AND ERIE COUNTIES, OHIO, by W.W. Williams, we read this biographical sketch about Asa Smith:

In 1809, Asa Smith visited the country in and around Huron, and moved into the township in June, 1810, from Romulus, Seneca county, New York. In 1811, he was elected justice of the peace, at the first election held in the township after its organization. Mr. Asa Smith located not far from the present residence of W. H. Wright, one mile west of the mouth of the river. He was born in Massachusetts; his wife in Rhode Island; they lived, for a time, on Long Island; afterwards moved to Romulus, New York, and from thence to Huron. They had six children when they came to Huron, one of whom, William B.,was born on Long Island, August 15, 1796. Mr. Asa Smith died at his residence, in Huron, August 30, 1815. His wife died August 30, 1842, in Sandusky.

A grandson of Asa Smith, Frederick F. Smith, served as Erie County Sheriff from 1858 to 1859. He died while in office.

Tombstone of President Rutherford B. Hayes and Lucy Webb Hayes

President Rutherford B. Hayes, and his wife, Lucy Webb Hayes, are both buried on the grounds of the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center. President Hayes, the 19th President of the United States, served from 1877 through 1881. Rutherford B. Hayes was born in Delaware, Ohio on October 4, 1822. He was a graduate of Kenyon College, and earned a law degree from Harvard in 1843. He practiced law in Fremont and Cincinnati. During the Civil War, Hayes served with the Ohio 23rd Volunteer Infantry, and rose to the rank of Major General. From 1868 to 1872, Hayes was Ohio's Governor.

Lucy Ware Webb and Rutherford B. Hayes were married on 1852. Lucy helped care for Union soldiers during the Civil War, and she was a popular First Lady during her years in the White House.















Rutherford B. Hayes died on January 17, 1893. His wife Lucy had died on June 25, 1889. Both the former President and First Lady were interred on the grounds of their home in Fremont, Ohio, now the R.B. Hayes Presidential Center.

The mansion which was the Hayes home for several years was originally built as a summer home for the uncle of Rutherford B. Hayes, Sardis Birchard.















The R.B. Hayes Presidential Center offers tours of the Hayes Home and the Hayes Museum.














On the upper level of the Hayes Museum is the Hayes Presidential Center Library. The library was the nation's first Presidential Library; it was established in 1916 by the Hayes family. The resources found at the Hayes Presidential Center Library cover the entire state of Ohio. A visit to the Hayes Presidential Center is a must for anyone doing historical or genealogical research in the state of Ohio. You can visit the website of the R.B. Hayes Presidential Center for more details about the Hayes Home, the Hayes Museum, and the Hayes Presidential Center Library, as well as excellent information about the Hayes family.

Dad's Sympathy Card to Mom

On July 1, 1970, after twenty years of marriage and six children together, my Dad gave my Mom a sympathy card on their wedding anniversary! I think Dad was humorously trying to tell Mom that he was sorry he was arrived home late so often, and tracked in mud, and watched baseball games instead of classic movies on television. Dad and Mom had a great sense of humor, and they both had a good laugh at the sympathy card on the occasion of their twentieth wedding anniversary!

















Pictured below is the Paul Orshoski family about 1971.
















Here are Mom and Dad on their 25th Wedding Anniversary. I think Dad skipped the sympathy card that year!