Wilbur Conrad

1924 - 2011

A retired Toledo Edison Co. meter reader who was a longtime farmer and auctioneer, Wilbur Conrad died Saturday in Hospice of Northwest Ohio, Perrysburg Township. He was 87.

His daughter, Nancy Ev- eritt, said he died from congestive heart failure in hospice, where he had been taken last Wednesday from Grand Rapids Care Center, where he had lived about 10 months.

Mr. Conrad grew up on a farm outside the village in Grand Rapids Township, helping his father in raising dairy cows and growing wheat and corn. He graduated from Grand Rapids High School in 1942.

Mrs. Everitt said her father worked six months at the Toledo Tank Depot, a vehicle assembly plant in Toledo that operated during World War II, before being drafted into the Army Air Corps.

She said her father, like many men his age, was eager to serve in World War II. "He was happy when they called his [draft] number," she said. "Everyone wanted to be a part of it."

After training in Florida and Texas, he was sent overseas to England and France, working behind the lines by following surveillance gliders.

Mrs. Everitt said her father didn't fight in combat but had the utmost respect for the soldiers who did see fighting. She said he longed for those times because he believed people were more patriotic and cherished freedom.

In an audio tape that the family recorded of Mr. Conrad's war experiences, she said he told them: "You need to talk to the guys on the front lines. Praise the Lord for what those men did."

Mr. Conrad journeyed in July, 2009, to the National World War II Memorial with the Honor Flight of Northwest Ohio. Mrs. Everitt said he hesitated for a long time to visit the memorial, but he said it was the best thing that he ever did.

"It was very emotional for him and brought him to tears," she said.

He returned from the war in 1945 to rejoin his father on the family farm, eventually taking it over.

He married the former Margaret Katon on Oct. 15, 1946. They both attended high school in Grand Rapids but didn't date until after he returned from the war. Mrs. Everitt they met while they were at the Henry County Fair. She died Jan. 23, 1996.

Mr. Conrad decided in 1951, after reading a magazine article, that he would try his hand at auctioneering.

"He was always trying to make some extra money and the extra money had to be made during times when he wasn't farming," his daughter said.

He signed up for a two-week course at Reisch Auctioneer School in Mason City, Ia.

He went on to form Conrad-Heyman Auctioneers in 1959 with the late Donald Heyman, conducting 15 to 20 sales a year during the height of the partnership.

According to Mr. Conrad's daughter, he worked at the Cannon Auction in Toledo, the Horse Barn Auctions on Ludwig Road, Fremont Horse Auction, and Wood County Auction Barn.

He worked 18 years for Toledo Edison as a meter reader, retiring at age 62.

"My father was very ambitious. He didn't have a college education. But he really strived to do different things to support the family," Mrs. Everitt said.

Mr. Conrad was a volunteer firefighter with the Grand Rapids volunteer fire department. He was at a blaze that destroyed the town's old hotel on Christmas Day in 1953. He also volunteered at the Apple Butter Fest, helping out with the firemen's food stand until he was 85.

He also had served on the board of education of the former Grand Rapids School District and was a past branch board member of the former Mid-Am Bank in Grand Rapids.

He was a member of the American Legion Alva N. Sidle Post 232, Veterans of Foreign War Post 4984, and Masonic Lodge 289.

Surviving are his daughters, Nancy Everitt and Peggy Meeker; son, Stephen Conrad; sister, Leona Cox; seven grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday in the Wright-Habegger Funeral Home. Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in the funeral home.

The family asks that tributes be made to Hospice of Northwest Ohio, First Presbyterian Church, or Honor Flight of Northwest Ohio.