Local News
Monday, December 28, 2009
Christmas centennialStaff Writer
When Mary Ziegman was growing up on a farm outside Cloverdale, there were no tractors. Farms were plowed by horses.
Ziegman, who turned 100 on Sunday, has lived in Fostoria for about 75 years. She is a longtime member of St. Wendelin Catholic Church and is now a resident of Independence House.
She was born Mary Droll on Dec. 27, 1909. Ziegman went to school in Cloverdale before moving to Ottoville, where she graduated from high school.
She worked as a registered nurse, first at St. Vincent Hospital in Toledo and then at Fostoria City Hospital. After taking time off to raise her children, Ziegman returned to work as a nurse in 1963, something her daughter Joann Schreiner described as "a gutsy move." After all, medications and techniques changed over the years.
"It wasn't a quick change, just a gradual change," Ziegman said.
Ziegman said her work as a nurse was "just a regular nurse... mostly general." She did, however, work some with surgical patients.
What Ziegman enjoyed most about nursing was getting to meet a variety of people and take care of them. "Especially to see them get well" was rewarding, she remarked.
Ziegman had seven children, of whom six survive. She has 12 grandchildren, 23 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.
Her family is close-knit.
"They all live around here," Ziegman stated.
Schreiner, 57, is a resident of Tiffin.
"Most of the family is in the area -- Findlay, Tiffin, Risingsun," Schreiner said.
Ziegman finds that the world has changed a great deal in her lifetime, although it's hard for her to reflect back on it. One thing she has noticed is that life seems more fast-paced now.
"Lots of changes," she said.
When she was a child, she and her siblings got up early and walked three miles each way to school. Ziegman was the second youngest, with three brothers and four sisters. She has outlived all of her siblings.
Growing up, her parents raised wheat, corn and oats on an 80-acre farm, she said. There were some dairy cows, hogs and chickens, as well as a garden that fed the family.
"They didn't have tractors or anything" back then, Ziegman explained.
Ziegman was married to her husband, Arthur, for more than 50 years, from 1934 until his death in 1986.
During World War II, Ziegman's older brother was preparing to serve in the war, but the war ended just as he was entering the service, she said. She doesn't remember World War I, which happened when she was a young child.
The secret to Ziegman's longevity? She doesn't know, but her daughter has an idea.
"She worked extremely hard all of her life," Schreiner said.
She said her mother always put others before herself.
"She always had time for the kids," she continued.
Ziegman made her daughters' dresses.
"That was a lot of sewing," she said.
She has continued to be involved in crafts into her senior years.
"She tats beautifully," Schreiner explained. "She's tatted, she's crocheted, she's made quilts."
Ziegman said she's also done "a little" knitting. In 1934, she bought the first Singer sewing machine sold in Fostoria for $102, Schreiner said.
In 1993, Ziegman lived at Independence House temporarily for several weeks when she had a health issue. After she stopped living there, she returned to Independence House as a volunteer, in her eighties, Schreiner said.
With volunteering, as with nursing, what Ziegman liked best about it was "meeting the different people."
Ziegman feels grateful to still be in good health.
"I've had a pretty healthy life," she said.
Schreiner remembers, growing up, that her mother took "numerous pictures of us kids" and would bake pies every week. The family always ate meals together.
"She had no inside plumbing until 1948, and at that time she had five kids at home," Schreiner said.
Ziegman also is experienced with canning and freezing food she grew herself in her garden, Schreiner continued.
No big birthday bash is planned. Instead, Ziegman's children and grandchildren will come and see her throughout the day. Since there are so many of them, it's best to spread out the visits, Schreiner said.
Ziegman noted that she doesn't have any advice from the wisdom of her years, because each person is an individual.
"Everyone lives their own lives," she said.
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Ph: (419) 435-6641 • Fax: (419) 435-9073
113 E. Center St. • P.O. Box 947
Fostoria, OH 44830
The Findlay Publishing Company
P.O. Box 609
Findlay, OH 45839-0609
Phone: (419) 422-5151
www.findlaypublishing.com
Please read our privacy guidelines
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