Ruth Ann Sattler

1926 - 2019

(News story) Ruth Ann Sattler, who partnered with her husband in a longtime family flower business known for gladioli, died Thursday at Sunset Village in Sylvania. She was 93.

She died of an aortic dissection, her son David Sattler said.

She was born Jan. 8, 1926, in Toledo to Edwin and Helen Schmidlin. She graduated from Maumee High School and attended Stautzenberger Business College in downtown Toledo.

Mrs. Sattler worked for many years alongside her husband, Vincent, whom she married Nov. 9, 1946, growing and selling cut flowers, mainly gladioli of numerous varieties. Mr. Sattler started Sattler's Glads in 1951 before giving it away to a friend in the early to mid-2000s.

"Mom did every bit as much as Dad did," the younger Mr. Sattler said. "She was very much his partner."

The couple grew the flowers on an 11-acre plot on Albon Road near Airport Highway in Springfield Township. In the summer the couple would start very early each morning cutting and bunching stems before Mr. Sattler would go to work at the Libbey-Owens-Ford, Co. glass plant in Rossford and Mrs. Sattler would deliver a van full of blooms to area flower shops.

Their seven children also took part in the work.

"That was one of the great pleasures for us kids," Mr. Sattler said. "As much work as the flowers were, we were outdoors and it was a wonderful place up there."

In an August, 1991, feature story in The Blade, Mrs. Sattler remarked she enjoyed hearing "the bluejays screeching" in early morning semidarkness, and had reportedly smiled while she called the work of cutting and collecting blossoms as "back-breaking."

The story noted the couple planted 80,000 bulbs of at least 150 varieties of gladioli alone that year. Other flower varieties included snapdragons, zinnia, liatris, tansy, Sweet William, feverfew, yarrow, statice, artemisia, gypsophila, celosia, chamomile, and calla lily.

Mrs. Sattler and her husband were active members of the Northwest Ohio Gladiolus Society and traveled across the country to attend national conventions and workshops. They had been married 70 years when Mr. Sattler died March 28, 2017.

About half of the couple's one-acre plot on Angola Road in South Toledo was also filled with gardens, growing flowers, fruits, and vegetables, their son said. Only a few of the flowers there were cut for sale, the rest were for the family to enjoy. Mr. Sattler said he grew up in a home filled with plants and flowers on the inside and surrounded by them on the outside.

"She loved her flowers, just absolutely loved all the flowers," he said, noting Mrs. Sattler also arranged blooms and won some ribbons at area flower shows. "Gardening was one of her pleasures."

The children looked forward to homemade strawberry shortcake when the fruit was in season and the homemade raspberry jelly that was often a Christmas gift.

When the flower business tailed off, Mrs. Sattler took to embroidery, using the craft to embellish household linens. She also was a voracious reader of all genres and always had many books around the house.

As a mother she was strict but loved her children fiercely.

"We all knew that Mom cared about us and really took good care of us," Mr. Sattler said. "She made every one of us feel like we were her favorite. I don't know how she accomplished that, but she did."

He added she tolerated the many wild animals the children brought home to rehabilitate or keep as pets, including a red-tailed hawk, raccoons, and snakes.

"Nothing bothered Mom," Mr. Sattler said.

Surviving are sons, David, Paul, Eugene, and Christopher Sattler; daughters, Nancy Osenbaugh, Carol Griffith, and Lori Lipscomb; 19 grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.

Visitation is from 3 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Neville-Shank Funeral Home, 7438 Airport Hwy. in Springfield Township. A second visitation is at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Providence Lutheran Church, 8131 Airport Hwy., Springfield Township, with a funeral service at 11 a.m. Burial will follow at Resurrection Cemetery.

The family suggests tributes to Providence Lutheran Church or the Toledo Area Humane Society.

This is a news story by Alexandra Mester. Contact her at: amester@theblade.com, 419-724-6066, or on Twitter @AlexMesterBlade.