Akron and Marion, Ohio

8/24/2012 We left Little Bennett CG and drove on I-70 up through Frederick and Hancock, MD then got on the PA Turnpike, I-76. We arrived at the City of Stow, Ohio, CG called Silver Springs at 4:50 pm ET.


8/25/2012 (Saturday) Old friends, Pete and Margaret Sheppard, met us at the CG about 12:00 pm and we went to lunch. One of the reasons for coming through Akron was to visit Greenlawn Cemetery where we located Jeanne’s Grandfather's grave. We drove to the house on Portage Lake, near a canal where Jeanne's family lived when she was  12 years old.  Great location.  Current owner was not home.  The canal was full of pontoon boats and smaller craft motoring back and forth to the Lake. We all returned to the CG and reminisced until the early evening.  It was a good day, visiting with old friends and enjoying the city Jeanne grew up in.

8/26/2012 (Sunday) Pete and Margaret picked us up and we went to a buffet breakfast and then to the Talmadge Cemetery, where another distant relative is buried.  After Pete and Marg left to see their son on this birthday, we returned to the house at Portage Lakes and met the current owner of the house Jeanne lived in at the age of 12.  He gave us a tour of the interior of the house.  We also went a couple blocks away to 427 Bixler Avenue, where Jeanne’s grandfather (the grave we visited the day before) built the house and lived in until he died in 1985.  After taking pictures, we returned to the RV at Stow.  Bob and Marilyn Ludwig called to see if we were willing to visit them in Marion, Ohio, southwest of Akron.  We decided we would head there tomorrow.  We went to bed about 10:00 pm

 Pete and Margaret Sheppard.  Jeanne dated Pete in 11th grade before moving to Birmingham.  They reconnected in 2009 and have been emailing ever since.  Nice people!

 

Jeanne's childhood home in Akron, Ohio.  She lived in this house with her family when she was only 12 years old.

 Jeanne's grandfather and step grandmother's plate at the Greenlawn Cemetery in Akron, Ohio.

 

 This is the house Jeanne's grandfather, Leonard Thrasher, built in the 40s and lived in until his death in 1985.

8/27/2012 We showered and drove to the St. Luke’s Lutheran Community Nursing Home to meet with Ron and Sue Floyd and see Willie “Bill” Floyd, Jeanne’s great aunt with the hope that she could identify some of the people in photographs in an old album that Jeanne's dad had recently uncovered in his garage.  With the help of Ronnie, Bill's son, we were able to identify several pictures, that led to identifying other people in the pictures.  What a blessing.  Bill is now 92 and as sweet as ever!!

 Bill Floyd and Jeanne

 Ronnie, Susan, Bill and Jeanne

 President Warren Harding's Memorial and Tomb

We returned to the CG and left about 1:20 pm headed to Marion, Ohio and the Hickory Grove Lake Campground, 124 miles away.  We arrived at 4:00 pm.  The campground is located in the country about 8 miles from Bob and Marilyn's home in Marion. The Ludwig’s live in a lovely older area of town. After appetizers and cocktails, they took us to dinner At Rocco and Rosa's, an excellent, new Italian restaurant owned by their neighbors.  Marion is a town of about 35,000 and is the home of Pres. Warren J. Harding.  We drove past his memorial and tomb. After dinner we drove past his home. Returned to CG around 9:30 pm exhausted.