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Ruth Dyer, recorded Bell Bottom Trousers'
SAN DIEGO - Ruth McCullough Dyer, who under the name Ruth McCullough had been a singer with big bands in the 1940s, died Friday of congestive heart failure. She was 80.
Dyer began singing professionally in the Washington area as a teenager. After singing with such local groups as the Rod Raffell band in the 1930s, she went to New York. There, she performed with the Sonny Dunham and Isham Jones bands as well as the Mitchellaires before joining the Tony Pastor Band.
In the early and mid-1940s, Dyer was a leading singer with the band, recording such hits as "Bell Bottom Trousers."
Other songs she recorded with the band included "I'm Beginning to See the Light" and "Walk a Little, Talk a Little." Another song the band recorded featured Dyer and her husband, Richard Dyer, on vocals. He was a singer and trumpet player with the band.
In addition to singing with the Pastor Band, Dyer had opened for her friends, the Andrews Sisters, on some of their singing engagements. When Dyer left the Pastor Band in 1946 to raise a family, she was replaced by two Ohio sisters, Betty and Rosemary Clooney.
06/20/01
Woodrow Wilson Gygli, bowled professionally
MIDDLEFIELD - Woodrow Wilson Gygli, who fitted customers for glasses at a shop on Hayden Ave. in East Cleveland for 60 years, died Sunday at Briar Hill Health Care Residence. He was 88.
Gygli lived in East Cleveland for decades but was most recently a resident of Middlefield.
He was born in Madison. He graduated from Ohio State University and remained active with the school's Alumni Association.
Gygli was an expert, both at work and at play. He was a bowler who competed professionally.
He was an Army veteran.
Gygli is survived by a sister, Hazel Behm of Chardon.
Services will be at 1 p.m. today at Behm Funeral Home, 26 River St., Madison.
06/20/01
Barnett W. Jones Sr., 86, ran supermarket in Lodi
WELLINGTON - Barnett W. "Barney" Jones Sr. came to Wellington from his native West Virginia in 1955 to join his brother, Kenneth, in operating the Market Basket grocery store.
When his brother decided to retire in 1963, Jones bought a supermarket in Lodi. He ran the Jones IGA until the mid-1970s. Then he worked as a manager for the Lawson's dairy store chain until retiring because of heart problems in 1977.
The 86-year-old Wellington resident died Friday at Integrated Health Service of Firelands, a nursing home in New London. Services will be at 11 a.m. today at Norton Funeral Home, 370 S. Main St., Wellington.
In his retirement, Jones spent a lot of time at Echo Valley Golf Club in Wellington, running errands in exchange for time on the links. He also was a skilled woodworker and had a flair for building birdhouses. He liked to add chimneys and fences to make them resemble regular houses.
Jones, who was born in Sand Hill, W.Va., was a member of the Wellington Eagles.
Survivors include his wife, Betty R.; daughters, Sharon Farago of Cleveland and Candace Martin of Euless, Texas; son, Barney Jr. of Wellington; and seven grandchildren.
06/19/01
Carl B. Thomas Sr., told interesting stories, cut hair
CLEVELAND - Carl B. Thomas Sr. opened Carl's Barber Shop on Lee Rd. in 1964 after working with clients at the Majestic Hotel and at Smith's Barber Shop on Cedar Rd.
Thomas, a graduate of the Erma Lee Barber College of Cleveland, started cutting hair in 1947. He was considered an expert in hair straightening.
He also was known for telling colorful stories about the people, "runners" and gangsters who frequented Cedar Ave. in the 1940s and 1950s and about his experiences with the Army's Red Ball Express in Europe during World War II.
The 75-year-old Cleveland resident died of complications of lymphoma Wednesday at Cleveland Clinic Hospital.
Being a barber was a second job for Thomas from the 1950s to the early 1970s, when he worked full time for the Postal Service in Cleveland.
Thomas, a native of Marshville, N.C., is survived by his wife of 54 years, Reola; sons, Carl Jr., Darrell, Gary and Jeff, all of Cleveland; a daughter, Barbara of Cleveland; five grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; a brother; and a sister.
Services will be at noon today at Mount Pleasant Church of God, 3304 E. 126th St., Cleveland.
R.A. Prince Funeral Home of Maple Heights is handling arrangements.
06/19/01
Donald Barlow, ran family farm in Hudson
HUDSON - For more than 50 years, Donald C. Barlow ran the family farm on Barlow Rd. near Ohio 91 in Hudson, which his ancestors, Chauncey and Cleopatra Case, founded in 1814.
After retiring in 1993, he donated the house in which he was born, the barn, which is one of the most photographed structures in Hudson, and the surrounding four acres of Case-Barlow farmland to the First Congregational Church of Hudson. A citizens group bought the property from the church and is developing it as a public park, cultural/educational center and athletic complex.
Barlow, 85, died Thursday at Akron City Hospital.
From 1962 to 1982, he was on the Hudson Township Board of Trustees. He was a Hudson Township Zoning commissioner for nine years. For 17 years, he drove a bus for the Hudson schools.
He was a charter member of the Summit County Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors and a member of the Summit County Agricultural Stabilization Committee. In 1998, he received the Summit County Farm Bureau's Distinguished Service Award.
Barlow was a past chairman of the Deacons Board at First Congregational Church of Hudson, which named him its Person of the Year for 1990-91. He also belonged to the Hudson Masonic Lodge 510, Darrow Street Grange 751, Hudson Garden Club, Hudson Heritage Association and the Society of Mayflower Descendants.
He attended Kent State University and graduated from Ohio State University. He established the Donald and Emily Barlow Scholarship Fund, which awards thousands of dollars in scholarships each year at Hudson High School, his alma mater.
Emily Barlow, his first wife, died in 1990. They had been married
for 49 years.
Barlow is survived by his wife of eight years, Helen; sons, Dennis of Hudson and Raymond of California; a daughter, Janet Barlow Defer of Hudson; three grandchildren; eight step-grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; eight step-great-grandchildren; and a brother.
Memorial services will be at 2 p.m. tomorrow at First Congregational Church of Hudson, 47 Aurora St., Hudson 44236. Johnson-Romito Funeral Home of Hudson is handling arrangements.
Donations may be made to the church or to the Volunteers of the Hudson EMS and Fire Department, 40 S. Oviatt St., Hudson 44236.
06/18/01
Violet Lorbach, co-owned the Lorbach Optical Co.
NORTH OLMSTED - Violet A. Lorbach kept the financial records for the Lorbach Optical Co., which she co-owned with her husband, Robert O., from 1959 to 1971. After they sold the business, she worked five more years for its new owners.
For 25 years she took care of the Sunday school records at Calvary United Methodist Church of Lakewood.
Services for Lorbach, who died Thursday, will be at the church at 1:30 p.m. today.
The 89-year-old North Olmsted resident died at Fairview Hospital in Cleveland, where she was once a volunteer.
She was a charter member of the Lakewood Kiwani-Anns, a club for wives of Lakewood Kiwanians. Every spring, she helped make and box doughnuts for the Lakewood Kiwanis' Doughnut Days.
Lorbach, a Westerville native whose maiden name was Doran, held several secretarial and bookkeeping positions in the Columbus area before coming to Cleveland in 1938.
She and her husband would have celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary June 29.
In addition to her husband, survivors include her son, Jerry R. of Elyria; daughter, Eileen Schultz of North Olmsted; five grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; and two brothers.
Donations may be made to Calvary United Methodist Church, 16305 Hilliard Rd., Lakewood 44107.
Zeis-McGreevey Funeral Home of Lakewood is handling arrangements.
06/18/01
Harry Pickering, lawyer, hearing judge
WOODVILLE, Ohio - Harry E. Pickering, 81, a lawyer dedicated to public service, died June 6 in Ann Arbor, Mich.
He conducted Social Security hearings and appeals as an administrative law judge for 16 years, until he retired in 1987. He earlier was an assistant U.S. attorney and an antitrust lawyer for the Justice Department and the Office of Price Administration.
Pickering was born in Cleveland. He graduated from Shaw High School and attended the University of Michigan, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1941 and a law degree three years later. He was a past president of the Cleveland chapter of the University of Michigan Club. For the last 30 years, he hosted reunions of his undergraduate and law classes at the university. He died just after the 60-year reunion of the undergraduates.
Pickering married
Jessie Jean Waldorf in 1942. She died in 1978. He married
his second wife, Jeanne M. Davis, in 1987. They moved from Bay Village to Woodville, Ohio, in 1996.
In addition to his wife, survivors include sons, Roger E. of Pickerington, Ohio, and James R. of Belleville, Ill.; daughters, Barbara Bizantz of Granville, Ohio, and Jane L. Nickel of Palm Bay, Fla.; stepdaughters, Michelle Swisher of Martin, Ohio, and Lisa Scheanwald of Woodville, Ohio; and eight grandchildren.
Services will be at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow in Wade Chapel at Lake View cemetery, 12316 Euclid Ave., Cleveland.
Memorial contributions may be made to a charity of the donor's choice.
Arrangements are by the Robinson-Henn-Brossia Funeral Home in Genoa, Ohio.
06/17/01
