Donald McKisson Mennel

MENNEL

Donald McKisson

Donald McKisson Mennel, age 94, of Fostoria, Ohio, passed away September 17, 2012, at the Good Shepherd Home. He was born in Toledo, Ohio on May 18, 1918, to Louis A. and Ethyl M. Mennel. While residing in Toledo, he spent summers on Neebish Island in Michigan and winters in San Diego, California. He graduated from the Francis Parker School, San Diego, California in 1932, The Thatcher School, Ojai, California in 1936, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, in 1940. At Yale he lettered in soccer and was a founding member of the SOBs, the Sons of Orpheus and Bacchus, a singing group competing with the Glee Club.

He joined The Mennel Milling Company in 1940 where he worked prior to enlisting in the Army Air Corps in 1941. He was a radio operator spending the majority of his duty stationed in Accra, Gold Coast (now Ghana), Africa where he met his wife, an Army Nurse, but also served on the Aleutian Islands.

He married Patsy Louise Lewis of Catawba, Virginia, at her family home on May 17, 1945, and was shortly thereafter discharged as a Major. The couple then

returned to Fostoria, Ohio, where he resumed working for the family company.

He became President of the Company in 1958, moved the corporate headquarters back to Fostoria and began his

efforts to grow a much neglected company. He focused the company on soft wheat specialty flours and increased capacity of the mill in Fostoria significantly. In 1971 he attended the

Advanced Management Program at Harvard University. In 1972, the company purchased the flour mill in

Dowagiac, Michigan, and in 1973, purchased Roanoke City Mills in Roanoke, Virginia. Both purchases occurred just prior to the Russian Wheat Deal in 1973, which challenged the Company and its management.

He retired as President of the Company in 1983 and enrolled at Ohio Northern

University's Claude W. Pettit College of Law earning his J.D. in 1986. He then set up his law office in his home specializing in commodities and closely held corporation law. He retired from his law practice in the early 2000's.

His business activities included serving as Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Mennel Milling Company and its affiliates, until 1990, when he became

Chairman Emeritus with meddling privileges. He variously served as a director of the following corporations: The Andersons, Fostoria Corporation, Gray Printing Company, Rice Grain Company, San-Lan, Sutton State Bank, and Tri-County National Bank.

His trade activities while in business included director, member of the executive and other committees, including Chair of the Millers' National Federation, member, director, and president of the Toledo Board of Trade, member of various committees of the National Grain and Trade Association, member of the Ohio, Michigan, and Virginia state grain associations, member of the Chicago Board of Trade, the National Grain Council, the American Feed Manufacturers Association, the Association of Operative Millers, and the Advisory Committee of the Federal Grain Inspection Service. He was also active in the Cleveland Chapter of the Young Presidents' Organization prior to becoming a founding member of the Maumee Chapter.

He was a member of the Hancock, Seneca, Wood, and Ohio Bar Associations, serving on the Agricultural Law Committee of the latter.

He was active in service organizations serving on the boards of the Chamber of Commerce, the Fostoria Community Hospital, and the YMCA. He served on the

local YMCA board more

than once, was recognized as

volunteer of the year, and served on the National Council of YMCA's, on its National Board of Trustees, and on the executive committee of the Great Lakes Region YMCA. He was a life-long member of the Masons, the Rotary, and the University Clubs.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Louis Jr. and Robert; sister,

Katherine Clement, and his wife, Patsy. He is survived by his three children, Donald L. (Louise), James R. (Susan), and John W. (Suzi), and grandchildren, Adrienne M. (Matthew) Peak, D. Ford Mennel, Drew A. (Melinda) Mennel, Ashley J. (Gerald) Reinhart, Michael J.

(Elizabeth) Mennel, Kristian N. Judd, Jaymes L. (Amanda) Mennel, and Katherine E. (Brett) Gleason. He has 17 great-grandchildren, as well as nieces and nephews.

Memorial services will be held on Saturday, September 22, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. at The First Presbyterian Church, Fostoria, where he has been a lifelong member. Interment will be held at a later date at Woodlawn Cemetery, Toledo.

Those wishing to make a memorial contribution are asked to consider the First Presbyterian Church, the Fostoria Community Hospital Foundation, the Geary Family YMCA Endowment Fund, or the Capital Campaign of Good Shepherd Nursing Home, all of

Fostoria.

The Harrold-Floriana Funeral Home is assisting the family with the arrangements.

Online condolences may be sent to the family at

www.hffh.net