E. Roberta Hannewald

1928 - 2017

(News story) Roberta Hannewald, a former Maumee resident who loved her community and worked her way up from a secretary to become a vice president of the former Charles R. Stevens Inc., died Sept. 30 in the Lakes of Monclova health facility in Monclova Township. She was 89.

She had heart problems, her daughter, Susan Miller, said.

Mrs. Hannewald was hired as a typist and secretary at the firm in 1956. Over the years she took on more responsibilities as she gained the trust and confidence of the owner, who eventually turned the functions of hiring and managing the company over to her, Ms. Miller said. Mrs. Hannewald worked there for 30 years, retiring in 1986 as a vice president. Formerly situated on Sophia Street in Maumee, the firm made paper mill equipment.

"She saw a lot of things in her life that weren't easy and she focused on moving on, focused on tomorrow," Ms. Miller said. "That was her attitude. She just said, 'You live through stuff and you move on.' She was an optimist."

Mrs. Hannewald was born May 1, 1928 in Johnstown, Pa. She was raised there and graduated in 1946 from what now is Greater Johnstown High School.

Later that year, she moved to Toledo to be with her mother. She soon got a job as a teller at the former Toledo Trust Bank and worked there until 1950, when she left to raise a family.

In 1956, Mrs. Hannewald got the job at Charles R. Stevens firm and moved to Maumee.

"My mom loved Maumee," her daughter said. "And she was determined that she was going to spend her life there. And she did. She loved her home, she loved the city, she loved the people."

She met Emery "Bus" Hannewald in the early-1960s. He died in 1986.

Mrs. Hannewald liked to spend her free time at home, watching old movies and keeping her house in order.

"She was a doer," her daughter said. "She liked organizing things and keeping her house immaculate and her yard maintained perfectly... And she loved a good joke. She loved to laugh and she liked to make everybody laugh."

Besides her husband, she was preceded in death by her daughter, Nancy Gannon, and her sister, Catherine Bauer.

Surviving are her daughter, Susan Miller; stepson, Dennis Hannewald; five grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

There will be no visitation and no public service.

Arrangements are by Maison-Dardenne-Walker Funeral Home, Maumee.

The family suggests tributes to the American Lung Association, Ohio Living Home Health and Hospice, or a charity of the donor's choice.