USA > Ohio > Women of Ohio; a record of their achievements in the history of the state, Volume II > Part 29
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Miss Morrison belongs to the Delta Theta sorority, is a member of the Eastern Star and of St. Mark's Episcopal church. She has always been a music lover and she is now active in the choir of the Presbyterian church and belongs to a group of Sidney musicians, known as the Colonial Singers. Her social activities are largely represented in the Sidney Country Club, of which she is a member, and she greatly enjoys golfing.
BERTHA B. OBERLANDER
The spirit of business enterprise and progressiveness finds exemplification in the life record of BERTHA B. OBERLANDER, who has turned one of the strong and active interests of her life-her appreciation of antiques-into a source of profit through the conduct of three well appointed antique stores, one in Palm Beach, Florida, one in Greensboro, North Carolina and one in Bucyrus, Ohio, in which city she makes her home, giving her supervision to her establishment here. Her business however has made her name widely known throughout the country among the lovers of antiques everywhere.
Mrs. Oberlander is a native of Kansas, but in her young girlhood she was brought to Ohio by her parents who settled in Cleveland, where she attended school until graduated from high school. She also completed a course in Normal school and subsequently took up the profession of teaching which she followed until her marriage, when she came to Bucyrus, where she has since made her home.
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Mrs. Oberlander has always been a lover of antiques, enjoying the beauty of coloring and design as seen in the creations of the past, and through col- lecting for her own benefit she gradually drifted into the business and for years has been especially active in this field. Not only has she conducted a successful business in Bucyrus, but has extended the field of her operations by establishing a store in North Carolina and one in Florida, which meet the tourist as well as the local trade.
The store in Greensboro is now under the management of her son, Ross, the elder of her two children. Her daughter, Beth, who is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan College and also of the Conservatory of Music in Boston, is now located in that city. Mrs. Oberlander is regarded as a very keen and dis- criminating business woman, who has prospered in her undertakings in the commercial field, but is also prominent socially in Bucyrus. She is a member of the Methodist church and she has many friends in this city where she has now long resided.
MABEL C. OTTING
MABEL C. OTTING is a prominent young business woman of Cincinnati. For four years, 1923-1927 she was assistant manager of the Hotel Gibson and at the time of her appointment was the only woman assistant hotel man- ager in the United States. Since 1927 she has been private secretary to Judge Alfred K. Nippert and Louis Nippert, attorneys.
President of the Woman's Rotary Club, Miss Otting is also active in the Three Arts Club and devotes considerable time to her music. She is soprano soloist with the College Hill Presbyterian Choir. Her organizations include the Women's Auxiliary, Hotel Greeters of America, of which she is a life member.
Born in Cincinnati, she is the daughter of Bernard Otting, a lieutenant of police, and Anna M. Otting, both native Cincinnatians. Her sister is Mrs. Grace LaPoris, Bureau of Vital Statistics, and she has two brothers, Bernard F. Otting, a radio engineer, and Frank Otting, service station manager.
CLARA M. PRESSLER
It is safe to say that a popularity chart on Cincinnati business women would show CLARA M. PRESSLER (Mrs. Edward William Pressler) as among the all time tops.
One reason, perhaps, is that from the start she recognized business as, fundamentally, a human institution the basic success of which is best regis- tered in terms of human service. Another reason might be that she set herself at the outset of her business life to learn her business so completely that it could and would function in terms advantageous to herself as well as to all others concerned.
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Mrs. Pressler began to carve this niche in the business world when, in 1910, she assumed management of Cincinnati's first cafeteria, opened a short time previous by her husband, E. W. Pressler. It was the outgrowth of a trip to the Pacific Coast made in 1908 by Mr. Pressler, then engaged in the restaurant business in Cincinnati. Now this erstwhile experiment caters daily to approximately 1500 persons, the greater number of them business men.
Mrs. Pressler, for whom working with foods has always been a challenge rather than a chore, believed that introduction of this new method in food serving would benefit by the more or less natural aptitude of women in food selection and preparation. So she assumed supervision of this part of the business.
Eating, Mrs. Pressler realized, is an activity that long had the home as its most satisfactory background.
So she considered carefully how best to develop a home atmosphere in the establishment.
She saw to it that the food purveyed should be in quality, quantity and preparation, the best possible under the business set up. She provided for preparation of all food, as far as this was possible, in the cafeteria's own kitch- ens. Mrs. Pressler realized men are very often allergic to carrying their own food to a table. So it was arranged that trays be carried by attendants. She believed that the "tipping" practice was, on the whole, unsatisfactory all round, So wage scales were adjusted to the elimination of this custom and tipping prohibited.
All this tended to build up a closely knit working organization, members of which cooperated enthusiastically. One illustration of this is the dormitory established by Mrs. Pressler for women workers when the cafeteria moved to a more extensive location. Some of her 65 staff members have been with her since the opening of the business.
Clara Pressler began her business career with the Great China Tea Com- pany. She met her husband while he was buying products for his restaurant and was married in 1900.
Throughout her business life, Mrs. Pressler has shared her highly special- ized skill by giving much time and energy to social and public service. As a member of the national, state and local restaurant associations, her advice was sought in dealing with the problems of food at county institutions. She initiated the Ladies Auxiliary of the Convent of the Good Shepherd, thus enabling the sisterhood to care for girls through courses in vocational guidance.
She was a charter member and vice president of the Cincinnati Business and Professional Women's Club and has held membership in the Cincinnati Woman's Rotary Club and the Woman's City Club.
Mrs. Pressler is a former board member of the Catholic Women's Club, a former president of the Ladies Auxiliary of St. Aloysius Orphanage and a highly helpful member of the Catholic Women's Association. She was the
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first woman board member of the City Charter Committee, an outstanding recognition of civic interest.
Despite her many duties and services, Mrs. Pressler has found time to travel extensively abroad and devoted, in the past, her first care and considera- tion to the rearing of her two daughters, Margaret Mary Pressler, now a well known New York artist, and Mrs. Joseph Myers of Cincinnati, who is expected to follow in her mother's business footsteps.
Born in Cincinnati in 1882, Mrs. Pressler was the daughter of Francis Memmel, dry goods merchant, and Christiana Memmel, both Cincinnatians. Her two grandfathers, Martin M. Memmel, mayor for 40 years of Green Town- ship, Hamilton County, and William Prehn, were Civil War veterans.
The Pressler home is at 2518 Cleinview Ave. That is, one of Mrs. Press- ler's homes. The other is the place in which so many of her fellow human beings assemble daily to challenge her skill in large scale housewifery.
IDA FLORENCE PRESTON
IDA FLORENCE PRESTON, business executive and editor, of Cleveland, Ohio, received her B. A. at Alleghany College and did post graduate work at the University of Pennsylvania and Cleveland College. She is executive secretary of the Lindner Co., of Cleveland and editor of "The Announcer" sponsored by the Adult Education Association. For a time Miss Preston was in charge of the editorial department of the Cleveland Clinic. She is an active member of the Women's Overseas Service League and was given the decora- tion of Daughter of the British Empire for her World War service.
KATE RESOR
KATE RESOR, trustee of the Grossbeck estate is regarded as one of the ablest business women of Cincinnati, in which city her entire life has been passed. She is a daughter of Charles H. and Marie L. (Handley) Resor and is a representative of one of the oldest families of Cincinnati, being a granddaughter of Isaac Burnett, who was the first mayor here. Her mother was born in Kentucky but her father was a native of Cincinnati, being a son of William Resor, the founder of the William Resor Company, manufacturers of stoves and heaters to which they afterward added the manufacture of furnaces, having one of the leading industrial enterprises here.
Kate Resor first attended the Ely school, which was built on land on which the first settlement of the Resor family was made after their removal to Ohio. She was also a pupil in a convent school and later a student in a business college, where she took up stenography and bookkeeping. In the vear 1907 she entered the employ of Mr. Grossbeck, one of the most prominent business men of the city, and has since continued with the business, filling responsible office positions, including that of secretary. She has constantly broadened her knowledge and promoted her efficiency in the field in which
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she has put forth her efforts and following the death of Mr. Grossbeck in 1936 she has been a trustee of the large estate which he left, all who know her recognizing her fitness for the important duties and responsibilities which devolve upon her in her present business connection.
Miss Resor has a country home and farm near Cincinnati and her hobby is raising collie dogs. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and of the Catholic Church and gives her political allegiance to the Republican party.
E. CHRISTINE RIECK
E. CHRISTINE RIECK is one of the owners of the funeral home con- ducted under the name of C. E. Curtis & Company, Inc., at Marion, where she has made her home since 1913. She was born in Findlay, Ohio, a daughter of Charles and Flora M. (Watt) Rieck, the latter also a native of Findlay, while the father was born in Germany. Their family numbered three chil- dren, the others being Ann and Carl W., who are still residents of Findlay where they are conducting the decorating business which was established by their father. The son married Edna Campbell of Findlay and they are the parents of four daughters-Sara Ann, Nancy Jane, Barbara Jean and Jane Elaine.
The Findlay schools afforded Miss Rieck her early educational privileges and after her graduation from high school there she spent two years as a student in the Ohio Wesleyan University. In 1914, the year following her removal to Marion, she became associated with the undertaking firm of Postle & Curtis, the predecessor of C. E. Curtis & Company, Inc., and in 1918 she purchased an interest in the business with which she has now been identified for a quarter of a century. She first served as an office girl and is now lady assistant and hostess in the funeral home, as well as a partner in the company, and she also makes the funeral gowns, as needed, thus filling a place in connection with the business that a man could not do. She also sings for the funerals which are held at the home, and her tact and sympathy are greatly appreciated by all with whom she comes in contact.
In club circles Miss Rieck is widely known and popular. She early joined the Quest Club, a literary organization, and she is a member of the Lecture Recital Club, a music club, of which she was treasurer for several years and for a long period a member of its executive board. She has membership in the Altrusa Club, of which she has been both secretary and treasurer, while in 1937-8 she was its president. She is now president (1939) of the Burroughs Nature Club and she belongs to the Kuchperwari Club, a card club of Marion. She takes a most active interest in the work of these various clubs and undoubtedly has accomplished a great deal in this direction.
Miss Rieck attends the Christian Science Church. Her love of flowers finds expression in her connection with the Marion Garden Club and especially
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in her enthusiastic work in her beautiful garden in the rear of the funeral home, especial features of which are a rockery and pool. She also enjoys making scrap books on interior decorating and thus her hobbies lean toward the beautiful. A love of animals, especially cats, is also one of her character- istics, and life holds for her many happy hours in carrying out her interests along these various lines, which enrich and beautify existence.
ELIZABETH WHITMORE RYDER
Actively associated with the business interests of Bucyrus since assuming her present position as office manager of the Ryder Brass Foundry, ELIZA- BETH WHITMORE RYDER (Mrs. Parmly H. Ryder), is also numbered among the leading women of the city because of her social prominence and her church activities. Born in Akron, Summit County, December 24, 1881, she is a daughter of William H. and Virginia (Weeks) Whitmore, the father a native of East Liverpool, Ohio, and the mother of Copley, this state. Her ancestors were closely connected with events that have shaped the history of the middle west. Her grandmother, Elizabeth Wilcox Weeks, wife of Darius Weeks, was born at Fort Edwards, now Warsaw, Illinois, a daughter of John R. Wilcox, who brought her to Summit County, Ohio, on horseback after her mother died. John Wilcox had entered West Point Academy in 1800, when eighteen years of age, completing his course there when twenty- two years of age and was ordered to frontier military duty at Fort Edwards, Illinois, being major in command there. For many years he was in the United States Army. The great-grandfather of Elizabeth Wilcox Weeks was James Pritchard, who was a member of the first territorial legislature at Chillicothe, November 24, 1779. He was also a member of the state senate in the third general assembly in 1804-5 and of the fourth general assembly in 1805-6, and in the latter was speaker. He was the member from Jefferson County, which had been established by Governor St. Clair, July 27, 1797. He was again chosen representative to serve in the seventh, eighth and ninth legislatures, and was a member of the senate in the tenth and eleventh legis- latures. In 1800 he served as associate judge of Jefferson County and in 1810-11 also filled that office. As presidential elector in 1804 he supported Thomas Jefferson and in 1812 James Madison. In 1808 he was nominated for judge of the supreme court of Ohio to succeed Return Jonathan Meigs, re- signed. Thus the ancestors of Mrs. Ryder were closely associated with the history of the state in its formative period.
Mrs. Ryder pursued her education in the public schools of Akron and then attended Buchtel College of that city, and on the 8th of May, 1906, in Akron, she became the wife of Parmly H. Ryder. The year 1910 witnessed the establshiment of their home in Bucyrus, where they since resided. They have two children. The daughter, Mrs. Wayne Watters. is the wife of the head of the department of speech in the high school at Ravenna, Ohio. The
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son, Charles, an Ohio State University student, is now connected with the Ryder Brass Foundry.
Since 1919 Mrs. Ryder has been a factor in the successful direction of the business, having in that year taken over the office management of the enterprise which her husband had established on their removal to Bucyrus and of which he is president. Theirs is a well equipped plant devoted to the manufacture of bronze bushings and bearings for heavy industry and also smokeless oil burners for industrial purposes.
Mrs. Ryder has long enjoyed the high regard of an extensive circle of warm friends here and has figured prominently in various phases of the social life of the community. She served as worthy matron of Bucyrus Chapter of the Eastern Star in 1914 and 1915, belongs to the North Side Reading Circle, of which she was president in 1913-14 and again in 1920-21, and is a member of Hannah Crawford Chapter, D. A. R., of which she is now regent for the term from 1938 to 1940. She belongs to the First Presby- terian Church of Bucyrus, is a member of the church guild and was super- intendent of the primary department of the Sunday school for several years.
MATHILDE ANN SCHMIDT
MATHILDE ANN SCHMIDT is secretary of the Cincinnati Butchers' Supply Company, which has a large manufacturing plant owned by the sons and daughters of Charles G. Schmidt, who was the founder of the business. He was born in Germany and learned the brewer's trade in his native land. When eighteen years of age he crossed the Atlantic and made his way direct to Cincinnati, where he worked at his trade and at other employment that he could get, carefully saving his earnings until his in- dustry and diligence had brought him sufficient capital to enable him to engage in business on his own account. He began in a small way the manu- facture of sausage casings and made a success of the enterprise, so that he later added butcher's supplies to his line and still later began the manufacture of refrigerators. The principal business of the company is now the manu- facture of packing house machinery and they are accorded a liberal patronage. The father continued in active connection therewith until his death, which occurred November 11, 1930, when he had reached the age of seventy-nine years.
Mr. Schmidt was united in marriage to Miss Helena Meyer, who died at the age of sixty-eight years. They had a family of ten children, six daughters and four sons, of whom five are yet living and are the owners of the business which their father established and developed. Mr. Schmidt was very prom- inent and active in the German societies of Cincinnati and was president of his local Society and also the national president.
Miss Mathilde Schmidt was reared in this city and pursued her edu- cation in the public schools until she had become a high school pupil. At the
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age of sixteen years she entered her father's office and gained a complete knowledge of the business in both the executive and manufacturing depart- ments, and has now been the efficient secretary of the company for several years. She is much interested in the growth and development of the trade and endorses all modern and progressive methods to further the business.
Miss Schmidt is a member of the Cincinnati Business and Professional Women's Club, of which she formerly served as secretary and also on the board of directors. She is much interested in vocal music and she greatly enjoys travel, driving her own car on long trips throughout this country and Canada, thus gaining the pleasant memories which so enrich and broaden life
LAURA M. SCHULZE
LAURA M. SCHULZE, stenographer in the office of the general yard master of the Norfolk and Western Railway boasts a service record of twenty continuous years with that company. Miss Schulze has been active in the Railway Business Women's Association of Cincinnati, holding various offices and was president of the club during the years of 1936 and 1937. Her home is at 1914 Wyland Ave., Norwood, Ohio. Her hobbies include reading, needle- work, particularly beautiful quilts and her Pekinese dogs.
MILDRED SHAFFER
MILDRED SHAFFER, of Hamilton, is co-owner with Lena Dalton of the Hamilton Business College, where is offered a full course of instruction in all business lines. Miss Shaffer was born in Cumberland, Maryland, and pursued her high school studies there, after which she attended Penn Hall, of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. She next enrolled as a student in Goucher College of Baltimore, Maryland, and later attended the Johns Hopkins Uni- versity in the same city. Subsequently she was a student in the Philadelphia School of Filing and thus broad and thorough training well qualified her to take up the profession which she has made her life work.
Miss Shaffer began teaching in the Bryant & Stratton Business College of Baltimore. Since 1934 she has been connected with the Hamilton Business College, for it was in that year that she and Miss Lena Dalton became its owners. The school has been in existence for seventy-three years and the most modern day methods of business education are today in use, while the equipment presents every necessary aid to the student. Under the able guidance of Miss Shaffer and Miss Dalton steady progress is being made and they are accorded a liberal patronage.
Miss Shaffer is helpfully interested in the life of the community, has membership in the Baptist Church, belongs to the Woman's City Club and to the Business and Professional Woman's Club, having been one of the founders of the latter and its first secretary.
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HARRIET KATHERINE SHARP
HARRIET KATHERINE SHARP, real estate broker of Millersburg, O., was born in that city, the daughter of George and Annetta Sharp. She took her A.B. at Westminster College and has for 10 years or more been a partner of the firm of Harriet and Bernice Sharp. She is also administrator of the Division of Aid for the Aged in Holmes County and appraiser for H.O.L.C. Miss Sharp has been vice chairman of the State Democratic Central Committee since 1934 and is secretary-treasurer of the Holmes County Democratic Ex- ecutive Committee. Her home is on High St., Millersburg, O.
ADA OZELLA SHAWK
ADA OZELLA SHAWK, wife of Guy E. Shawk, of Mansfield, is one of the leading dealers in antiques in Ohio, having won a foremost position by reason of the discriminating taste and precision with which she selects her stock. Moreover, she is a representative of prominent pioneer families of the state. She was born on a farm in Richland County, Ohio, a daughter of George L. Black, also a native of the same county, his forebears having located here many years ago. His grandfather was the first county treasurer of Richland County, having settled here in 1804. Their ancestral line is traced back to William the Conqueror. Many representatives of the family in this country were school teachers or farmers. The mother of Mrs. Shawk was in her maidenhood Eugenia Miles, who was directly related to Colonel Samuel Miles, aide to Washington and one time mayor of Philadelphia.
Mrs. Shawk attended the district schools near her girlhood home, then pursued a high school course and also attended Ashland College. When sixteen years of age she began teaching, which profession she followed for twenty-five years, and was supervisor of public school music in the county schools.
In 1912 Ada Black became the wife of Guy E. Shawk and they have one son, Malcolm, who is at home. For years Mrs. Shawk has been very active in the Parent-Teachers Association of Mansfield, of which she has served as president. She is also an earnest worker in the Baptist Church and was president of one of its classes for years. It was in 1918 when the family came to Mansfield, where Mrs. Shawk has since resided. During the World War she took a helpful part in the war work, the Red Cross and other patriotic and philanthropic work and, in fact, throughout her entire life has ever been ready to respond to a call of duty or of need. She began taking an active interest in collecting antiques in 1926 and it may well be said that her collection displays the romance of lighting as seen in both lamps and lanterns for she possesses lamps more than two thousand years old, one that was taken from the ruins of Pompeii and others of equal interest and note, her collection being probably the largest in the country. She also has a most interesting collection of early furniture and her wide reading and study along these lines has made her an authority on many antiques.
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MARTHA SHIMLER
One of the outstanding figures in business and club circles and the reli- gious and civic activities of Cincinnati is MARTHA SHIMLER, whose influence and efforts have been widely felt for the benefit of the city and its people. She is a native daughter of Cincinnati and her parents, John and Sophia Shimler, were both born in Ohio. Her father spent the latter part of his life on a farm in Hamilton County and passed away in 1931 at the age of seventy- three years. Her mother is still living at the age of eighty years and is a resident of Cincinnati.
Miss Shimler was the eldest of five children, three sons and two daughters and pursued her education in the public schools, passing through the grades to the high school. Soon after putting aside her text books she became secre- tary to Zeptha Sanard and continued to fill that position until his death, when she became agent to take the place which Mr. Sanard had filled. Her knowl- edge of business affairs is comprehensive and her judgment keen and reliable in all transactions with which she has to do. She is also trustee of several large estates including the Sarah Bella McLean estate and the Lewis and Jeptha Sanard estates. Miss Shimler has her offices in the Mercantile Library Building, and she is a member of the Real Estate Board. She has been closely associated with many progressive measures that have to do with the upbuild- ing and welfare of the city, is a charter member of the Business and Profes- sional Women's Club and has served on some of its more important committees, and is likewise a charter member of the Cincinnati Women's Rotary Club. She has membership connection with the City Women's Club and with the Peace League and is an active worker in the Presbyterian church. She enjoys gardening and owns a nice country home near Cincinnati.
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