Woodlawn Cemetery - Lima Ohio

03/26/2026

Wolfgang Schultheis established a tannery in Lima on Water Street at the intersection of Elizabeth in 1863, and there it continued under his sons until 1917. The elder tanner died in 1903, his wife, Helen (Byer), had died in 1899. Their sons, Gustave (d. 1889), George (d. 1891), and John (D. 1912), all lie here - tanners all, along with Charles, a banker, and his wife Malinda (Eckert) Schultheis, who both died in an auto accident in 1930. Eventually, the tannery was removed to open Elizabeth Street to the south. The family monument is marked with a gracefully draped funerary urn on top.

03/19/2026

Section 14 of Woodlawn Cemetery contains the Ashton family - Edwin (surgeon and druggist) and Frank Ashton, Jr. (lumber dealer), who were incorporators of Woodlawn. Their parents were Francis, Sr., a hardware dealer (d. 1882), and Elizabeth (MacKinder) Ashton (d. 1869). Francis, Sr. was builder of the original structure of the Lima Trust Co. - the Ashton Block. Their borther, William Ashton, was a Realtor who died in 1891. A handsome memorial on an island commemorates the whole family. An intersting separate memorial sculpted to represent a log commemorates Susan (Thomas) Ashton (d. 1889), wife of their brother, Christopher, but neither she nor her husband are on the island; they are across the drive to the west.

03/12/2026

Standing apart in a quiet newer area is the Schoonover memorial, a triad of hexagonal columns with central urn. The Schoonover family is remembered for bringing their Auglaize County banking interest to Allen County. Father John T. Schoonover established City Loan here in 1912. Thomas R. Schoonover, was a great philathropist, leaving us as memorials the City Loan Co., Schoonover Park, gifts to schools in Allen and Auglaize Counties, and gifts to area colleges. He died in 1958, and his widow, Helen (Wemmer) Schoonover, survived until 1970. Also here are his brothers, Fred G. (d.1967) and wife Edna (Langhorst) (d. 1968) Schoonover, and Sam J. (d. 1978) and Bernice "Babe" (Gillis) (d. 1977) Schoonover, and the wife of T.R.'s son Jack, Sarah Jane "Sally" (Marvin) Schoonover (d. 1999), as well as a memorial to Maria Schoonover Wiseman.

03/05/2026

One of the interesting early monuments, tall and slender, and one of the few metal monuments in Woodlawn Cemetery, being of "white bronze" (or zinc), is that of John A. "Long John" Anderson, who was a machinist and engine-builder. His wife, Lydia (McDonald) passed away in 1880, and John had this monument erected. He drowned in a sleigh-riding accident in Michigan and a memorial was placed here in 1889. Other members of the family are also buried here.

Woodlawn Cemetery is seeking family members of Long John Anderson. If you are a descendant, or know anyone who is, please contact us. Thank you!

02/26/2026

Among our many building contractors was one exceptionally talented one who was well known for the many fine schools, municipal buildings and theatres he built in Lima and the surrounding area. Andrew Gerald "Gerry" Sawyer (d. 1962) was owner of Green & Sawyer Contractors. He had come to Lima from Cincinnati as an engineer on the B&O Railroad. He soon went to work for the Green contracting company, and eventually became a partner. His wife was Mary Christine Jones (d. 1980). Their children were Adelaide C. (d. 1992), Thomas G. (d. 1979), and Sylvia (Mrs. Martin Knapp). Their gray granite stone bears a quotation from Psalm 30: 5: "Weeping endureth for a night, joy cometh in the morning."

02/12/2026

Frederick Agerter was born in 1833 and died in 1883. Associated with the machine business known as Carnes, Agerter, & Co., which later became the Lima Locomotive Works, Mr. Agerter was born in Switzerland and apparently his family wanted posterity to recognize this fact, as his monument bears the inscription, "Canton Berne, Switzerland." His widow, Martha J. (Browne) Agerter (d. 1909), is by him, and the rest of the family is nearby on the same lot. The family further emphasized their Swiss ancestry by naming Frederick's nephew, William Tell Agerter, for the Swiss national hero. Born in 1859, William T. Agerter was also an official of the Lima Locomotive Works and a president of the Woodlawn Cemetery Association. He died in 1944 and is on an adjoining lot with members of his family, including his wife, Charlotte (Disman) Agerter.

02/05/2026

Dorothy K. Beecher was a national, even international, celebrity. She was born to a family of former abolitionists, suffragettes and free thinkers. Her Grandmother Beecher took her to a Baha'i event when she was barely a teenager, and she became a believer. After marrying Frank Baker, baker of Plezol bread (the bakery later became Nickles), she hosted local programs and became involved in the faith on a national and international level. She was made one of the faith's nine "Hands of the Cause of God" in the world. She was on a Baha'i trip in 1954 when her plane exploded over the Mediterranean. Her remains were never recovered. Frank continued her evangelistic work, though on not as high a level, and died in 1963. Her mother, Dr. Luella K. (Gorham) Beecher (an obstetrician) died in 1966. Dr. Luella Beecher's mother-in-law, Ellen Virginia (Tuller) Beecher also rests here. The family's memorial bench honors them with a saying of the Baha'u'llah: "I have made death a messenger of joy to thee. Wherefore dost thou grieve?"

01/22/2026

The Curtin family came to Ohio with the oil boom, working first in Auglaize County, then Allen County. Emmett R. Curtin branched out into utilities and banking. He was president of the Lima Natural Gas Co. (precursor to West Ohio Gas), Lima Telephone & Telegraph, and the First American Bank & Trust Co. Emmett R., Sr. was buried at Woodlawn in 1931. The Curtin mausoleum dates to 1937 with the death of E. R., Sr.'s wife Effie (Allen) Curtin. E.R., Sr. was transferred there at that time. His son, Emmett R., Jr., followed in his father's footsteps in gas and oil, as well as various Lima utilities and banking endeavors, and was buried there in 1949, followed by his wife Hazel (Wright) Curtin in 1958.

01/15/2026

An impressive granite shaft marks the burial place of the Zetlitz family. Eggert Zetlitz came to Ohio from Norway as a youth. He worked his way up from being a gardener to becoming Lima's foremost florist in the early 1900s. he had a shop on W. Market Street and several greenhouses where his magnificent flowers were grown. He and his wife Emilie (Berner) lie here, along with their son, Thor, who died in 1917 - the first Lima soldier to die in World War I (he succumbed to pneumonia). The florist died in 1930 and his widow in 1949. Their children surround them: Thor, Ronda (Zetlitz) McPheron, Borghild (Zetlitz) Fletcher and family.

01/08/2026

This large slab of granite is a tribute to the family of Alfred C. Baxter, Jr., the nephew of Samuel A. Baxter. Alf started out in banking with the Baxter Brothers and went on to become a clerk with his uncle and Calvin Brice's Lima Gas Light Co. In 1885 he married Ben Faurot's daughter Carrie, and they had six children. Carrie died at the birth of the youngest. Faurot had erected a magnificent home called Oak Hall for the young couple on what later became the site of Faurot School. Alf married again to Elizabeth Moore. Two years later, twin daughters were born to the couple, but the mother died at their birth. Alf died of acute alcoholism in a sanitarium in 1915.

01/01/2026