Counting true toll: Obituaries offer insight into coronavirus impact on Lucas County

Beyond statistics, The Blade has compiled life stories by interviewing family and reviewing obituaries submitted to the newspaper.

By Mark Zaborney / The Blade
Thu, 21 May 2020 03:30:16 GMT

Less than two years from the century mark, Michael J. Seery died of coronavirus on May 8, a month and three days after his 98th birthday.

The Oregon resident was in the hospital for cellulitis on his arm and then in rehabilitation for several weeks at Genacross Lutheran Services on Wheeling Street.

“Mike contracted and shrugged off an unbelievable chain of fatal maladies,” his son Michael L. Seery wrote in his father’s obituary. Among those were childhood scarlet fever and, later cancers of the colon, breast, and skin; an aortic rupture, abdominal aneurysms, “really slow heart failure, and the Luftwaffe. It is hard to believe that this low-grade virus finally caught up to him,” his son wrote.

His son said last week: “I thought he would live to be 100. I couldn’t see why he wouldn’t.”

Henrietta “Hank” Tenney, 90, of West Toledo had Alzheimer’s disease and so lived at Kingston of Sylvania the last year. Her son, Rick Mierzwiak, brought her morning coffee. Her daughter, Bonnie Krenk, visited daily.

Mrs. Tenney sang through the corridors as Mrs. Krenk pushed her wheelchair. Afterward, daughter encouraged mother through meals. In the obituary, her daughter was upfront: Her mother had coronavirus.

“I just thought it should be known,” Mrs. Krenk said. “So many people are not believing this is happening.

“For one year straight, every single day of the week, I went to see my mom. She was one of the most happiest people. Everybody at Kingston loved her. She waited for me every day,” Mrs. Krenk said. “It’s so sad.”

As of Saturday, the Ohio Department of Health had received reports of 31,408 confirmed and probable coronavirus cases statewide, including 5,437 people needing to be hospitalized and 1,956 who had died. In Lucas County, there had been 2,087 confirmed or probable cases, 549 hospitalizations, and 228 coronavirus deaths.

Beyond statistics, The Blade has compiled life stories by interviewing family and reviewing obituaries submitted to the newspaper. The individuals below do not represent everyone who has died in our community from the virus. Such an exhaustive list proves elusive. Public health officials won’t release identities of the deceased, most coronavirus deaths never come before the county coroner; and it is at the discretion of families whether to include cause of death in obituaries.

For example, data shows the coronavirus is hurting minority families in America far more than white families. Yet The Blade’s review of obituaries suggests black and Hispanic families were less likely to specify this cause of death when recording their final thoughts about a lost loved one.

Still, while numbers taken together or dissected can inform decisions — by policy makers, families, individuals — the true toll grows clear when loved ones recall, through obituaries and remembrances, facets of a life lived and lost.

THE DECEASED

Mr. Seery worked since childhood, delivering the former Toledo News-Bee in the Eastmoreland neighborhood of what is now Oregon and, coal for his father’s company. An Army veteran of World War II, he fought in Europe with the 99th Infantry Division, called the Battle Babies because they were so young. He had an excavating business and took pride in his skill with a backhoe, especially in digging and shaping swimming pools.

He learned to play Hawaiian-style lap guitar when he was young, and was skilled on the tenor banjo. He could sing a blues song and was a strong hymn singer.

Mrs. Tenney was a manager at the pioneering drive-in restaurant, Holland House. But she wanted and got her own place — Hank’s Truckstop and then M&M Truckstop on Central Avenue in Sylvania Township. Afterward, she was an accountant for area restaurants. She loved to sing and tell dirty jokes, and a favorite saying was, “Just kill ‘em with kindness,” her obituary said.

“She used to help the homeless when she had her own restaurant. She never let anybody go hungry,” her daughter said.

Pastor Delbert Williamson, 58, of Toledo endured loss — the deaths of his wife, Cynthia, and then his twin brother, Dale; a fire that in 2019 destroyed the building that housed his congregation, Faith Way. Yet he was the first to reach out, to help. He died of coronavirus April 8.

“Even through it all — I had [coronavirus] at the same time — he was more concerned about me than he was about himself,” his son Josiah said. Son Jairus added: “That was a big man with a big heart.”

Sister-in-law Linette Guilford said: “Above everything else, you’d ask him what he was most proud of, it would be the boys.”

He was an Army combat medic, worked in his father’s trucking business, and as a city of Toledo employee, was a superintendent at the Hoffman Road Landfill. He was most closely associated with Faith Way Church, founded by his father-in-law, the Rev. Wilbur Harris.

In family emergencies, he’d be the first at the hospital, Mrs. Guilford said. “What I found so hurtful was for somebody you could always depend on and was always there for us, that we weren’t able to be there for him,” she said. “It was a very hard goodbye.”

She also said: “We know God was with him.”

Darryl Campbell, 79, was a retired Air Force master sergeant who served in Vietnam, a family man who was a member of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church and the Knights of Columbus when he died April 9 from complications of coronavirus.

Hillard Lee Miller, 72, died April 14 from complications of coronavirus. He’d been a die setter for Doehler-Jarvis Corp. and then started a handyman and lawn service. Family and friends, in his obituary’s online guest book, recalled the light he brought to gatherings and his skill at pool.

Bernice Macek, 91, born in Ludwipol, Poland, died April 16 from coronavirus complications. In World War II, she lost her father, two brothers, and a sister. She and her mother were held in a German slave labor camp. She arrived at Ellis Island in 1949, settled in Toledo, reared three children with husband Marion Macek, and made the same house a home for decades. A 36-year Libbey Glass employee, she helped sponsor her husband’s relatives as U.S. immigrants, and shared her heritage, including traditional food and song, with children and grandchildren.

“Bernice was pure and loving despite the trauma she endured in her young life,” her obituary said.

Ronald Sturgill, 87, a former acting deputy fire chief in Toledo, was dealing with the neuromuscular condition, myasthenia gravis. He died April 18 of coronavirus. He had a 27-year firefighting career; was a pilot and former chapter president of the Experimental Aircraft Association, and had a business that involved polishing glass laser rods for use in space-bound telescopes and Army tanks.

Charles Neal, Clay High School director of bands for 32 years, inspired a corps of alumni to follow his lead and become high school band directors. Well into retirement, he played trumpet and sang in a dance band. He had Parkinson’s dementia and was to be released from a memory care facility, until his fever spiked. Test results April 18 showed he had coronavirus. Mr. Neal, 80, died April 19.

Stephen R. “Larry” Gorciak was foster son from infancy of Rachel and Roy Bush and he became part of the Bush family. Working with his hands and learning about craftsmanship from Mr. Bush enthused him. So did restaurant dining and camping trips. He lived at a group home, returning to the Bush home on weekends, and attended a sheltered workshop. Mr. Gorciak, 70, died April 21, of coronavirus.

Harvey Feasel, 87, of Perrysburg died April 25 of coronavirus. A military veteran and Tiffin University business alumnus, Mr. Feasel was an Owens-Illinois Inc. accountant for 27 years, who loved time with friends and family, fishing and golfing, and “tinkering with woodworking projects,” according to his obituary.

Donna Spence, 74, of Toledo died April 26 of coronavirus. An Army veteran, she worked in the computer room of the Toledo Lucas County Public Library, was active in the Sylvania Senior Center, and “loved spending time with her girlfriends enjoying a good meal and camaraderie,” according to her obituary. She liked fishing and was a Democratic Party volunteer.

Edward “Butch” Szuch, Sr., 81, died April 26 of coronavirus. He was a third-generation Jerusalem Township commercial fisherman and succeeded his father, Al, as owner of a bait shop. He was active in the township Democratic men’s club, Ducks Unlimited, and the NRA. His obituary requested tributes be in the form of PPE — masks, gloves, and gowns — donated to Landings of Oregon.

Anna Najdzion, 85, died April 27 from complications of coronavirus. Born in Poland, she moved with her parents to Olean, N.Y., and after marriage in nearby Allegheny. She and her husband were active in Allegheny’s Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation. She lived in Swanton and then Sylvania in recent years.

Tracy Hammer, 50, who lived at the Northwest Ohio Developmental Center for 30 years, died April 28 of coronavirus. She’d worked at Lott Industries and Noure Adult Day Hab. “Tracy should be remembered for the many barriers she helped break down in the developmental disabilities community,” her obituary said. A friend and coworker wrote in the online guest book: “What I loved the most was her spunk, her devilish laughter, and her playfulness.”

Earl Avers, 92, an Army veteran, fought in the Korean War and was awarded a Purple Heart. He was a general foreman when he retired from the Libbey-Owens-Ford East Broadway plant, and he coached youth baseball. He died April 28 of coronavirus.

William Pierce, 87, died April 28 of coronavirus. A Navy veteran, he was an electrician whose company for 43 years specialized in traffic controls and maintaining the operations of water and sewer plants.

Joan Babkiewicz, 82, for years battled rheumatoid arthritis, severe neck issues, and heart disease, according to her obituary. She died from coronavirus on April 30. A legal secretary, she became assistant to the president of Toledo Hospital. A painter and glass blower, she later was a director of grants for the Toledo Museum of Art.

Lucille Hoffman, 71, of Toledo was in remission from brain cancer when she died from coronavirus complications. The bookkeeper at Prescott Florist was in the PTA, a room mother at Westwood Elementary, and coached junior football cheerleaders. After a stint at the Disney Store in Toledo, she moved to Orlando and worked at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom.

Lee Anne Kleeberger, 88, died May 2 of coronavirus. She taught English and literature at Fassett Junior High School in Oregon, winning the respect of students and colleagues.

G. Timothy Haney, 70, died May 3 of coronavirus. He was a former executive director of Historic Woodlawn Cemetery, as his father had been. He became the city of Toledo’s urban beautification officer and then supervisor of cemeteries. A veteran birder, Mr. Haney posted more than 20 online lists of species he spotted while visiting Woodlawn in 2020. His last list, from April 7, indicates he counted 40 species and 404 individuals, including one pied-billed grebe, three ruby-crowned kinglets, 10 blue jays, and 100 robins.

Joanne Emnett, 98, died May 6 of coronavirus. She worked to help support her husband and family and was known as a volunteer and supporter of charities. She’d been a member of St. Joseph Church Maumee and was active in the rosary-altar society and the Knights of Columbus auxiliary.

Mary Helen Berry, 83, of Toledo died May 7 of coronavirus. She’d retired from the American Red Cross and liked to travel and garden. She was a member of the Point Place United Church of Christ and the Point Place Heritage Society.

Sarah Wannemacher’s spirit of adventure and courage led her to leave Glasgow, cross the Atlantic on the Queen Mary and, at age 21, become a U.S. citizen. According to her obituary, she was proud that she was able to start a new life and a family, giving them the opportunities here that weren’t as prevalent across the pond, as she would often say, in her Scottish accent. She was 93 years old when she died May 9 from complications of coronavirus.

Stanley Hills had health challenges since his early teens and had several hospital stays in 2020 when he contracted coronavirus, his brother John said. “The reality was that was the final straw,” his brother said. Mr. Hills, 61, died Wednesday. He’d worked as a bill collector. He volunteered in support of St. Francis de Sales and St. John’s Jesuit high schools. He was, his obituary said, “the epitome of a man who followed his own path, often at odds with convention, yet never with any animosity or lingering resentment.”

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