…Holland and Springfield Township Recollections
Holland High School Graduation 1923
The following story was submitted by Karla Miller, president of the Holland-Springfield-Spencer Historical Society.
One hundred years ago, five girls comprised the only graduates in May of the Class of 1923, the same year the Village of Holland was incorporated. The following are stories about those five girls.
Dorothy H. Hafner was born December 6, 1904 in Adams Township Lucas County to Frederick Hafner of Germany and Abbie Ostrander of Michigan on a truck farm on Hill Avenue.
Dorothy was the oldest of four children; Gertrude, Myrtle, and Raymond who all attended Holland High School.
Dorothy graduated just two weeks after her mother’s sudden death on May 13, 1923, age 43. Dorothy married Cecil LeRoy Johnson Jr. on April 25, 1925, in Adrian, Michigan. Cecil was born April 9, 1902, Toledo, Ohio, to Cecil Sr. and Hazel ]ohnson. Cecil served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Cecil and Dorothy were the parents of four; Dorothy Jane, 1926, Doris Ann, 1927, Donna Jean, 1930 and Cecil Leroy, 1929.
Dorothy died suddenly September 31, 1936, at University of Michigan Hospital, Ann Arbor of a stroke at age 31 years, 9 months and 15 days. She is buried at Toledo Memorial Park, Sylvania. Cecil died August 16, 1967, at Flower Hospital, a retired plant manager of Kaiser Jeep. Dorothy’s sister, Myrtle, also a graduate of Holland High School married David ]ohnson in 1929, (Cecil’s brother).
Lucy Margaret Phelps was born ]uly 1, 1905 in Jefferson City, Kentucky, to Walter George Phelps and Adella Holmes. Lucy’s father died in 1905. Lucy was the first of two children. Her brother was Walter Phelps. No information was available on her mother. The census of 1910 and 1920 show Lucy and brother Walter living with Uncle Oliver D. Phelps, 34, a widower, and grandmother Lucy Phelps, 69, in Springfield Township, on the Chicago Pike. Lucy was secretary/ treasurer of her Holland High School class. She never married and had no children. Lucy became a nurse and moved to Chicago, Illinois, where she remained for 20 years as a visiting private nurse. Lucy then moved to North Carolina where she died April 13, 1986, age 80 years, 9 months and 12 days, in a nursing center in Tyron City, North Carolina. She is buried at Polk Memorial Gardens Cemetery.
Nellie Katherine Krueger was born April 21, 1905 in Toledo. Nellie was adopted after her birth by Charles H. Krueger and Frances A. Bowen.
No information on her biological parents was available. The 1910 census has Nellie, age 5, residing on Albon Road in Springfield Township with adopted parents Charles H., 50; his wife, Frances, 69; their son, Frank, 29 and Frances’s daughters Flora, 38 and Sarah Liebhaber, 35. After Nellie graduated from Holland High School, she married Oscar Frederick Schmidlin on October 30, 1929, in Lucas County. Oscar was born Ianuary 6, 1906, in Lucas County to Frederick Schmidlin and Anna Kuhlman. In April 1940, they lived on Atwood Road, Adams Township, with five children: Nellie Belle, 9; Charles D., 7; Catherine, 5; Mary Jo, 3 and ]ames Oscar, 2. Nellie died on March 12, 1944, in Robinwood Hospital Toledo age 38 years, 10 months and 21 days, of pneumonia and an embolism. Nellie was laid to rest at Toledo Memorial Park, Sylvania, Ohio.
Jeanette L. Wood was born September 7, 1905 in Holland to Thomas James Wood, who was the son of James T. Wood and Amanda C. Corson, and Sarah M. Lees, who was the daughter of Edmond Lees and Arabella McCaughey. Jeanette was one of four children: Illa Bell, Lee Thomas, and James Clayton Wood. Ieanette was class president and went on to attend Bowling Green Normal School where she earned a degree in education. Jeanette never married nor had children of her own. She returned to Holland where she taught first grade for 41 years at Holland Elementary School, retiring in 1965.
Miss Wood was the one teacher everyone wanted to teach their children. She taught respect for one another and every morning we stood at attention for the Pledge to the Flag, and the Lord’s Prayer. We were her children. No one was ever afraid of her, as she had a calming effect on all. Jeanette was a member of Holland United Methodist Church. Jeanette died December 27, 1990, at St. Luke’s Hospital, Maumee, age 83 years, 3 months and 20 days. She is buried in Springfield Township Cemetery.
Ada Mae Jacob was born October 4, 1905 in Holland to Valentine Henry Jacob and Anna Carolina Moench. Ada’s parents were both born in Germany, moving to Holland in 1903, renting a house on Railroad Street.
Valentine was the only barber in Holland and a shave and a haircut was 35 cents. Ada was one of seven children; Irion V., Thusnellda L., Eva E., Gertrude M., and Paul T. and Lela Jacob.
After graduation from Holland, Ada attended Bowling Green University receiving her teaching degree, then undergraduate from Ohio State in 1941, and a masters degree at Columbia University. Ada taught school for 45 years:18 at Holland, two years in New Philadelphia, five years at Lakewood, Ohio, and finished her teaching career with 21 years in Cleveland.
Ada also was an artist. She never married nor had children of her own. Ada never learned to drive and depended on family and friends or the public transportation system. She was never seen without a hat on, owning a huge assortment of them. Ada was honored by her old high school in 2000. Ada was the oldest living graduate of Holland High School when she died February 15, 2005, age 99 years, 4 months and 11 days, at Lutheran Village of Wolf Creek. Ada so wanted to reach 100 years old but she grew very tired. Ada’s entire family is buried at Springfield Township Cemetery.
