The Toledo Blade Online
The Toledo Blade OnlineThe Toledo Blade Green Edition
Click here to subscribe or renew!
Temp: 14°
Humidity: 84%
Wednesday, 02/10/10
Click Here Click Here Click Here Click Here Click Here
Home »   Latest News »   Obituaries - News » 

Click to Receive RSS Feeds!EmailPrint IndexHelp FacebookTwitterDiggDel.icio.usFark

Article published June 12, 2009
EARL F. 'BUD' OTT, 1925-2009
Official led schools through hard times

Earl F. "Bud" Ott, 83, who as superintendent of the Springfield Local Schools steered the district through energy shortages, inflation, and other hazards of the late 1970s, died of a heart aneurysm Tuesday in his Bowling Green home.

He retired in June, 1979, to control the beginnings of high blood pressure. Later, he had two heart valve replacements.

"He'd been going pretty strong," his daughter Barbara Peck said. He liked to say, "•'Oh, I'm a tiger,'•" she recalled.

Mr. Ott became Springfield superintendent Jan. 1, 1977.

He'd been with the district since 1959 and was assistant superintendent since 1971. Yet his first days as superintendent were like a "baptism of fire," he told The Blade after announcing his retirement.

A fuel shortage almost closed the district. A committee of staff members came up with a way to transport students from building to building and altered schedules. Schools stayed open.

"The whole thing is working together, and that's what this district is all about," Mr. Ott told The Blade.

Teachers were hard-pressed to find sufficient texts; custodians worked with inadequate supplies, he said then, "but everybody keeps plugging away and trying to do the job."

His successor, George Tombaugh, recalled, "Things were much, much tighter in those days.

"People forget about the high inflation and high interest rates," said Mr. Tombaugh, who was Springfield assistant superintendent from 1977-79, then superintendent from 1979-1999.

"The district was just beginning to emerge in its growth and was limited in its resources," said Mr. Tombaugh, also a former superintendent of the Westerville City Schools. "It was a struggle to get our head above water. He provided the leadership to move us forward.

"His heart was very much with the district," Mr. Tombaugh said. "He was well thought of by the staff and the community."

Mr. Ott, formerly of Holland, was hired by the school district as a high school industrial arts teacher. He became high school principal in 1965.

A 1943 graduate of Bellefontaine, Ohio, High School, Mr. Ott enlisted in the Marines soon after. His duty as a scout took him to Saipan, Okinawa, and Tinian, where he was blown out of a foxhole and hit by shrapnel when a tank blew up. He was in Nagasaki, Japan, with the U.S. occupation forces after the war.

He enrolled in Bowling Green State University with the aim of being an educator. A tiff with the university over course credit caused him to leave for several years, during which he and his wife owned Pioneer Automatic Laundry on South Main Street in Bowling Green. He returned and received bachelor's and master's degrees from BGSU.

He became an industrial arts teacher in 1957 at the former high school in Portage, Ohio.

Woodworking was his specialty, and he built bookcases and, for grandchildren, cradles. "That's how I learned my appreciation of woodworking," his daughter said. "I can build a deck, but I can't cook."

He and his wife spent winters since 1981 in Fort Myers, Fla. He was an associate member of St. Mark's Lutheran Church, Bowling Green.

Surviving are his wife, Dolores "Dede" Ott, whom he married March 23, 1948; son, Bruce; daughters, Beverly Pepper and Barbara Peck; sister, Norma Horton; eight grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

Services will be at 10 a.m. tomorrow in the Deck-Hanneman Funeral Home and Crematory, Bowling Green, where the body will be after 4 p.m. today.

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


Permanent Link

 RECENT RELATED ARTICLES

BGSU's faculty soon may vote on unionizing | 02/05/2010
Buyouts at BGSU get more interest than predicted | 02/04/2010
Bowling Green police warn shops of late-night holdups | 02/04/2010
BGSU administrator became bank exec | 02/03/2010
Woman is sentenced for theft from Bowling Green hotel | 02/02/2010
2 men get time in jail for falsifying gun permits | 02/02/2010
‘Simple Church' is topic for Dayspring seminar | 01/30/2010
Ex-Bowling Green State University lab director convicted | 01/30/2010
BGSU event eyes Canada's role in culture | 01/23/2010
Bowling Green hospital's $42M wing ready for dedication | 01/22/2010
BGSU kicks off centennial with service | 01/19/2010
Bowling Green deputy says he will appeal dismissal of his bias suit | 01/15/2010
Curling club hopes to hike public’s interest in sport | 01/13/2010
Falcons travel to Akron to open conference play | 01/09/2010
Toledo man indicted for fleeing Bowling Green police | 01/08/2010

More related articles »


Blade Area
Updated: 6:23 am
Children's Wonderland equipment is up for sale >>
Cops/Courts
Updated: 6:22 am
Teen in assault to be tried as an adult >>
Cops/Courts
Updated: 6:08 am
Retired Sylvania officer who stole on job gets early release >>
Blade Area
Updated: 6:05 am
Bell stands by raises in face of unions' ire >>
State
Updated: 5:50 am
Strickland defends fee on late license renewal >>
Cops/Courts
Updated: 5:42 am
Ottawa County driver asks lifetime ban after fatality be ended >>
More news stories
 



click here!

ADVERTISING SECTIONS
Tom Henry
Updated: 7:13 am
Playing the odds can help mitigate disasters >>

S. Amjad Hussain
Updated: 5:53 am
France draws line over Muslim women’s dress >>

Marilou Johanek
Updated: 5:54 am
Sense of superiority drove church to 'help' Haitian children >>

Jack Kelly
Updated: 5:42 am
As Democrats schmooze, Obama’s credibility slides  >>

Jack Lessenberry
Updated: 5:32 am
Granholm failed to make case in last Michigan address >>

Rose Russell
Updated: 6:09 am
Even in South Africa, pols' private affairs are people's business >>

David Shribman
Updated: 9:37 am
Love means never saying budget deficit >>

Mike Sigov
Updated: 12:31 pm
Russia's president brings little to the table >>

Tom Walton
Updated: 5:40 am
Apologies in politics are unprecedented >>

More columnist stories
MOST READ STORIES
1.  Snowstorm slaps Toledo region; most activities canceled
2.  Ottawa County driver asks lifetime ban after fatality be ended
3.  Northwest Ohio's Crystal Bowersox impresses Simon, survives another 'Idol' round
4.  Toyota workers become lobbyists for a day
5.  TPS puts income tax of 0.75% on ballot
6.  Honda adds 378,000 cars to recall list
7.  U.S. orders recall of 500,000 drop-side cribs
8.  Strickland defends fee on late license renewal
9.  Bell stands by raises in face of unions' ire
10.  Haitians surrendered kids, Americans' attorney says
MOST E-MAILED STORIES
1.  Toledo strip club puts cover charge into quake relief
2.  Tennis champ accused of phone harassment
3.  Officer says 33 dogs seized from suspected puppy mill
4.  Knights' Cromwell steps down
5.  Mental health agency looks to pare $3.5M from services
6.  Homelessness board votes for outside audit; advocate Ken Leslie safe for now
7.  'Stagecoach Mary' broke barriers of race, gender
8.  Sylvania lawyer charged in thefts from 2 clients
9.  Mental health board hears appeals from officials
10.  MAC basketball struggles with fall from elite


AP  News Headlines



AP  Business Headlines



AP  Sports Headlines


AP  Features Headlines
Copyright 2010 The Blade. By using this service, you accept the terms of our privacy statement and our visitor agreement. Please read them.
The Toledo Blade Company, 541 N. Superior St., Toledo, OH 43660, (419) 724-6000
To contact a specific
department or an individual person, click here.
The Toledo Times ®