LYONS, OHIO HISTORY & PHOTOS
LYONS, OHIO HISTORY & PHOTOS
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BARDEN, Maurice D. April 28, 1917 - September 27, 2006  Article published Toledo Blade on Friday, September 29, 2006 MAURICE D. BARDEN, 1917-2006 Fulton County man was trustee in Royalton Township LYONS, Ohio - Maurice D. Barden, a former long-time Royalton Township trustee who was a former president of the Fulton County Cattlemen and owned harness racing horses, died Wednesday in Mt. Dora, Fla. He was 89 and had been in a nursing home in Florida for about a month, suffering from lung cancer, renal failure, and other health problems, his son, Maurice J. Barden, said. Mr. Barden was a township trustee in northern Fulton County for 26 years, holding a seat on the board until he was in his 80s. He was a strong advocate for continued improvements for the fire department. He grew up on a farm in Royalton Township, the youngest of two sons born to Jesse and Mabel Barden. He graduated from Lyons High School in 1935 and had the opportunity to play professional baseball. But he had strong family ties to Fulton County and decided to farm instead. He and his father owned a milk route and he was a driver, picking up milk cans on farms and hauling them to the former Driggs Dairy in Blissfield seven days a week through the late 1930s and into the 1940s. He also milked cows himself until the 1950s, when he switched to beef cattle, buying calves when they weighed 400 to 500 pounds and feeding them until they reached 1,200 pounds. He often fed 200 head of cattle a year and was president of the Fulton County Cattlemen in the 1960s. He raised corn, soybeans, and wheat on about 500 acres. And although he officially retired when he was about 65, he was involved in the farm for many more years. "He loved it," his daughter-in-law, Connie Barden, said. "I think he just got a real joy out of the challenge." Mr. Barden owned racehorses for about 25 years, starting in the 1960s, and followed them to every race. He and his wife, Janet, hung at least 40 pictures of racehorses in their kitchen in Lyons. They were married in 1940 when Mrs. Barden, then Pearl Janet Pickles, was a drugstore clerk in Adrian. They had been high school sweethearts. She died in 2002 and this year Mr. Barden sold their home in Lyons. He was a member of the Wauseon Elks and for years he and his wife had spent most Saturday nights there having dinner and dancing. Mr. Barden was musical; he played drums in a dance band in Toledo. When he was in his 20s and 30s, he often got home from gigs at 2 or 3 on Sunday mornings and was back on the road, driving his milk route at 5 a.m., his son said. Mr. Barden was active with the Shriners in his younger years and in more recent years he enjoyed hosting a group of northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan area friends who spent a long weekend golfing in Florida every winter. He spent winters there for decades and had visited the area frequently from 1948 when his father bought a home there. Surviving are his son, Maurice J.; daughters, Maureen Peabody and Margy Bressler; brother, Boyd; eight grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. Services will be at 11 a.m. Monday in the Eagle Funeral Home-Charles Fink Chapel in Morenci, Mich., where visitation will be from 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday. The family suggests tributes to Lyons-Royalton Township Fire Department or the Hospice of Lake and Sumter Counties in Florida. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& BARDEN, Maurice D., 89, of Leesburg, Florida, formerly of Lyons, Ohio, passed away Wednesday, September 27, 2006, at the Avante nursing home in Mt. Dora, Florida. He was born on April 28, 1917, in Fulton Co., Ohio, the son of Jesse and Mabel (Standish) Barden. On June 21, 1940, in Seward, Ohio, he married (Pearl) Janet Pickles. She preceded him in death on November 16, 2002. Maurice was a life long farmer in the Lyons area and graduated from the Lyons High School class of 1935. He enjoyed many years of playing and watching baseball, basketball and track. He was particularly fond of watching his harness horses race. Maurice was a member of the Wauseon Elks, a 32 degree Mason, a member of the US Trotting Association, Ohio Twp. Association, Royalton Twp. Trustee for twenty- six years and past president of the Fulton Co. Cattle Feeders Association. Maurice was very proud to be the host of the MD Yalaha Open Golf Outing. Survivors include two daughters, Maureen Peabody of Leesburg, Florida and Margy Bressler of Liberty Center, Ohio; a son, Maurice J. (Connie) Barden of Lyons; eight grandchildren, Brent Peabody, Brook (Nancy) Peabody, Audra (Lary) Warren, Jesse (Carrie) Barden, Jacob Barden, Katie (Lance) Eisel, Annie Barden, Ellie (Adam) Gleckler; six great-grandchildren, Mark and Tierra Peabody, Taylor and Dylan Warren, Alivia Eisel, and Luke Barden; and one brother, Boyd (Alice) Barden of Lyons. Beside his wife, Janet, Maurice was preceded in death by his parents; a granddaughter, Laura Hutson; one grandson, Jess Bressler and one great-grand-daughter, Jessica Peabody. Funeral service will be on Monday, October 2, 2006, at 11:00 a.m. at the Eagle Funeral Home-Charles Fink Chapel in Morenci. Burial will follow at the Lyons Cemetery in Lyons, Ohio. There will be a visitation on Sunday from 1 until 6 p.m. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions are suggested to the Lyons Royalton Twp. Fire Department or Hospice of Lake and Sumter Counties in Florida. |
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Lyons Ohio History This page was created Setember 28, 2006 Web page by Charles Paul Keller http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~keller/lyons/work/obit65.html
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