Search Archived Marriage Records
Bill Metzner, veteran firefighter
William "Bill" George Metzner was devoted to his church, his family and his 31-year career as a firefighter.
Metzner, 71, died Thursday at his Monfort Heights home. He succumbed to lung cancer after survived another bout with cancer in 1982.
Mr. Metzner began his career in 1953 as a "rough nut" or beginning fireman, said Dottie Metzner, his wife of 42 years.
"Pardon the pun," she continued, "but he went right up the ladder. He was promoted to the life squad in 1956, to lieutenant in 1960, then to captain then to district chief which they also called marshal back then. He retired in January 1984."
Two years before retiring, Metzner was diagnosed with can cer that caused him to lose a kidney and part of his bladder. Still, he fought back and returned to work.
"He survived that and he did very well for 15 years," Mrs. Metzner said.
For almost 25 years during his firefighting career, Metzner used his off days to serve as an inhalation therapist at Christ Hospital.
After retiring as a firefighter, Metzner began volunteering his time at the Cincinnati Fire Museum and the St. Francis Soup Kitchen. He distributed communion to shut-ins, was a participant at the St. Ignatius Bible Teachers Training Program and was a member of the St. Ignatius daily rosary group.
"He loved his church first and his family second," Mrs. Metzner said. "He always went to church, but he didn't really become real religious until recent years, the last 10 years or so."
He is also survived by a daughter, Mary Patricia Smith of Ross; sons Mark of Fort Thomas, Ky., and Douglas, David and John Metzner of Cincinnati.
Visitation will be 4-7 p.m. Monday at the Mihovk-Rosenacker Funeral Home, 5227 Cheviot Road, Monfort Heights.
Mass of Christian Burial will be 7:30 p.m. Monday at St. Ignatius Church.
Date of announcement: 07-05-1997
GWENDOLYN COX, 73, of Cincinnati, died July 1. She was a homemaker. Services: 10 a.m. today at Renfro Chapel, 647 Forest Ave., Avondale. Visitation: 9 a.m. until service.
Date of announcement: 07-05-1997
MARIE A. GOEBEL, 91, of Wilmington, Del., died Thursday. She retired in 1966 after working 10 years for the family business, Ralph E. Goebel Wholesale Jewelry, in Cincinnati. Services will be private.
Date of announcement: 07-05-1997
Henry Trounstine, businessman and performer at charity shows
Henry P. Trounstine, a businessman and expert fly fisherman who wrote songs and performed in numerous amateur shows to raise money for Cincinnati causes, died Sunday at University Hospital of pancreatic cancer. He was 76.
A native Cincinnatian whose grandparents settled here in 1846 to work in the dry goods business, Mr. Trounstine was widely known for his love of Dixieland jazz, his tenor voice and his ability to craft lyrics to popular songs.
An avid fisherman, he was as comfortable stalking bonefish in Nicaragua as he was catching bluegill in Lake Ojpog, the backyard pond he built on Grandin Road.
He attended Walnut Hills High School and graduated in 1938 from University School. He attended Stanford University until December 1941, enlisting in the Marine Corps at the news of Pearl Harbor.
He took his final exams while in officer training school and graduated from Stanford in 1942, shipping out to the Pacific theater the same year. Before he left, he married Amy May Joseph of Cincinnati, who died in 1988.
An anti-aircraft gunner in the South Pacific, Mr. Trounstine rose to the rank of captain in the Marines and was discharged in 1945. In 1957 he was awarded the rank of major.
After the war he joined Clopay Corp. as a salesman for the plastic film and window shade manufacturer. He stayed with the company for 27 years and became its executive vice president. He retired in 1977 to manage his own business interests, including HPT Plastics and Hyde Park Plastics.
Mr. Trounstine wrote songs and sang in amateur productions to raise funds for artistic, religious and social causes, including the United Fine Arts Fund, Rockdale Temple, Cincinnati Symphony, Cincinnati Art Museum, the Playhouse in the Park, the Jewish Federation, Cincinnati Zoological Society and United Way.
In recent years, he was a singer with Jim Casey and Friends, amateur jazz musicians who played for a wide range of charity events.
Mr. Trounstine was a member of Losantiville Country Club, Spring Run Farm Trout Club and Rockdale Temple.
In 1990, he married Connie Remlinger, of Mt. Adams.
He also leaves children, Jean R. Trounstine of Tewksbury, Mass., Philip J. Trounstine of San Jose, Calif., and Peggy A. Trounstine of Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; a sister, Helen T. Kriegsman of Menlo Park, Calif.; and eight grandchildren.
Services: noon Wednesday at Weil Funeral Home, North Avondale. Visitation: 11 a.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.
Memorials: Trounstine Fund of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation.
Date of announcement: 07-08-1997
Howard Barns, Sycamore educator
Long-time Sycamore School District teacher and administrator Howard DeMotte Barns, 56, of Anderson Township, died Sunday.
He began his career with the Sycamore schools teaching science and coaching football and baseball. In 1970, he became an assistant principal at Sycamore High School and in 1974 was named principal of the Sycamore Junior High. In 1980, he became principal of Sycamore High School and in 1986, was appointed assistant superintendent of the district with responsibility for personnel functions.
Throughout his career, he was noted for his positive influence on students and his strong support for educators in the classroom, said associates.
In 1993, he retired after 30 years and began a career as financial planner with S.G. Donahue.
Services: 11 a.m. Thursday at Anderson Hills United Methodist Church, Anderson Township. Visitation: 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the church. Arrangements: T.P. White and Sons Funeral Home. Memorials: Hospice of Cincinnati or American Cancer Society.
Date of announcement: 07-08-1997
Rev. Melvin Hardin Jr., West End
The Rev. Melvin F. Hardin Jr., the self-proclaimed "Mayor of Dayton Street," died July 2 in his Cincinnati home. He was 64.
Mr. Hardin was a volunteer at the Cincinnati Land Cooperative, a 32nd-degree Mason of the Ecclesiastes Lodge 120 in Cleveland and an active member of the 18th Ward Democratic Club.
His sister, Fannie Mallory, said she will remember him as a gifted pianist and organist, a creator of beautiful floral arrangements, a wonderful cook who touted his secret barbecue sauce and a person who enjoyed carpentry and an extensive knowledge of U.S. geography.
Mr. Hardin graduated from St. Xavier High School and attended Salmon P. Chase Law School. In 1951, he married Virginia Ruth Maddox and moved to Cleveland, where he served as a police sergeant.
After suffering a heart attack in 1962, Mr. Hardin later owned and operated a restaurant and flower shop, as well as the Hardin Memorial Funeral Home. Ten years later he closed his businesses, moved to Atlanta and entered the ministry.
Mr. Hardin pastored at churches in Georgia until 1989, when ill health brought him back to Cincinnati, where he served as interim pastor of York Street Methodist Church and later as associate pastor of The House of Joy, where he served until his death.
He also leaves a son, Melvin F. Hardin III, and daughter, Rene Philene Hardin, both of Cleveland; sisters, Anna Louise Smith, Marie Baity and Fannie Mallory, all of Cincinnati, Gaunnie Hardin Dixon of Los Angeles and Henrietta M. Anderson of Detroit; and three grandchildren.
Services: 11 a.m. Saturday at York Street United Methodist Church, West End. Memorials: American Heart Association.
Date of announcement: 07-08-1997
John P. Kurlas, owned restaurants
Local restaurateur John P. Kurlas, owner of Cleves Drive Inn and several other establishments, died Saturday at Hospice of Cincinnati in Blue Ash. He was 78.
Mr. Kurlas, of Miami Heights, was a member of one of the first Greek families to settle in Cincinnati. After serving in the Navy during World War II, he opened the Coffee Cup restaurant in Cleves in 1952.
The Coffee Cup eventually became the Cleves Drive Inn chili parlor, which moved to its present location on South Miami Avenue in 1985. Mr. Kurlas also owned Skyline Chili franchises in Fairfield and West Hamilton, and several other restaurants.
"He could have nothing in his pocket and start a restaurant," said his son, Dennis Kurlas of Sharonville. "He worked 18, 20 hours a day. He would go in at night and sleep there with the bed next to the door so he could work right away in the morning. He had that Greek drive."
Mr. Kurlas also owned several race horses, a few of which became champions.
He also leaves his wife, Louise T. Terrell Kurlas; another son, Nicholas J. Kurlas of Miami Heights; a daughter, Mary Louise Kurlas of Loveland; sisters, Susan Georgeton, Margaret Lambros, Helen Psillas and Viola Mitchell, all of Cincinnati, and Connie Georgiton of Columbus, Ohio; nine grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.
Services were today at Holy Trinity-St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, Finneytown. Arrangements: Dennis George Funeral Home, Cleves. Memorials: to the church.
Date of announcement: 07-08-1997
ROOSEVELT BARRETT SR., 67, of Avondale, died Friday. Mr. Barrett was retired from Mike Albert Leasing. Services: noon Thursday at Hall-Jordan Funeral Home, Walnut Hills. Visitation: 11 a.m. Thursday at the funeral home.
Date of announcement: 07-08-1997
MIKE BERRY, 50, of Mt. Orab, Ohio, died Saturday. He owned Sportsman Cafe in Williamsburg, Ohio. Services: 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Maham Funeral Home, Williamsburg. Visitation: 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.
Date of announcement: 07-08-1997
