Jane E. Yenrick

1931 - 2025

News story
By Mike Sigov
Blade staff writer

Jane E. Yenrick, a celebrated matriarch of a family of volunteers who was a past treasurer of the East Toledo Historical Society and a retired picture-framing shop manager and library worker, died July 26 in her Rossford home. She was 94.

She had a few medical conditions common for her age, her son, Tim Yenrick said.

"She sure has nurtured not only her community over the years, but a phenomenal family that has contributed to East Toledo in so many ways," said Peter Ujvagi, a longtime East Toledo resident and former state representative, Lucas County commissioner, and Toledo city councilman. "She never sought the limelight, but she was always there.

"That determination, a fairly low-key approach, and her ability to connect to people and to most importantly motivate them, that's what made them to be involved in everything from the [East Toledo] Historical Society to the East Toledo Family Center, to all the things that she was involved with over the years."

In December, 2009, Carty Finkbeiner, the then-mayor of Toledo, presented Mrs. Yenrick and her family a ceremonial glass key to the city. A story in The Blade commented that the Yenrick family is "considered by some to be a foundation in East Toledo," and that the Yenricks and their five children had "made volunteerism a regular part of their lives."

All five of her children got jobs in social service-related fields and became involved in volunteering, including helping people with developmental disabilities, coaching, educating high schoolers, and running a YMCA.

"Our service to the community and the family, it all started with mom and dad," Mr. Yenrick said. "And as my siblings would [also] tell you, we were always involved. And I guess that was just passed on to us."

Working in public service-oriented job sectors "was ingrained in us, and we have strong ties to East Toledo," he previously told The Blade when in 2003 he received a Jefferson Award from the American Institute for Public Service, honoring his work as the then-executive director of the East Toledo Family Center.

Over the years, Mrs. Yenrick juggled motherhood, volunteerism, and two jobs.

For 31 years, she managed Robert's Frame Shop, a picture-framing family business, from its inception in 1962 in East Toledo until 1993, when she and her husband, the late Robert Yenrick, retired from the business and closed the shop at least 15 years after moving it to Oregon.

Additionally, for more than 25 years, she was a senior clerk at different times at Toledo Lucas County Public Library's Locke and Oregon branches from the time she was hired around 1970 until retiring in the mid-1990s.

Along with being a longtime treasurer of the East Toledo Historical Society, Mrs. Yenrick - also for many years - volunteered for the East Toledo Family Center and March of Dimes, a national nonprofit that aims to improve the health of mothers and babies. And while her children were in Waite High School, she was active in the school's PTA, helped cater school luncheons, and raised money for the school's college fund.

Born June 4, 1931, in East Toledo to Cornelia and William Palmer, she graduated in 1949 from Waite High, where she was on the honor roll and was active in the student government and the literary society. During her senior year, she was also the editor of The Sizzle, the school newspaper.

Upon graduation, she attended the University of Toledo for one year until 1950, when she married Robert Yenrick, a fellow East Toledoan. Mr. Yenrick, who coached numerous Toledo boys and girls sports teams and was recognized for his lifelong volunteerism, died in 2021.

Mrs. Yenrick was a longtime member of the former Good Shepherd Catholic Church in East Toledo, where she had volunteered in a variety of capacities, including as what she called a "money counter," and helped cook and serve meals at church dinners.

"Whatever they asked her to do," she did it, Tim Yenrick said.

In her free time, she enjoyed square dancing and traveling with her husband, doing home projects, and taking care of the family's dogs.

She also liked reading, gardening, sewing, and knitting, which she had done for a while. In 2004, she told The Blade she remembered making wool sweaters for the troops during World War II.

Surviving are her daughters, Deborah Yenrick and Connie Yenrick; sons Robert Yenrick, David Yenrick, and Tim Yenrick; eight grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.

Visitation will begin at 10 a.m. Monday at All Saints Catholic Church, Rossford, where a Mass of Christian Burial will immediately follow at 11 a.m. Arrangements are by Sujkowski Walker Funeral Home, Rossford.

The family suggests tributes to a charity of the donor's choice.