Carolyn Metzger of Sylvania, an avid supporter of community organizations and longtime volunteer, died Thursday at ProMedica Flower Hospital. She was 94.
Mrs. Metzger had been in the hospital for three weeks undergoing treatment for pneumonia, said her daughter, Sue Metzger.
Mrs. Metzger spent much of her time leading volunteering efforts in the community. She was a founding board member of the Ronald McDonald House, which is now the Ronald McDonald Charities of Northwest Ohio, serving as board president for five years beginning in 1982. She also spent many years volunteering at what is now ProMedica Toledo Hospital and was a 50-year member of the hospital’s Auxiliary, also serving as that organization’s president in 1981.
In 2001, she and her husband Herbert were named Distinguished Fellows in the Toledo Children’s Hospital Fellows Society and in 2005 the couple received the ProMedica Health System Health Advocate of the Year Award for years of service to the hospital.
She also spent many years volunteering at the Jamie Farr Toledo Classic LPGA golf tournament, which is now the Marathon LPGA Classic presented by Dana, while recruiting several of her family members to pitch in and help at the event, as well.
“Both of my parents thought that it was very important to give back to the community,” said Sue Metzger. “The two of them were always on the same page. You couldn’t go to one and get a different answer than the other one gave you. They both firmly believed that you should give back to your community.”
Mrs. Metzger kept close watch over her three children while supporting her husband Herbert, who was an educator and school psychologist. Her daughters were avid swimmers and Mrs. Metzger often took them to their swim meets and synchronized swimming events, said her daughter Holly Metzger.
“I always said that was true love because my mother would get her hair done on Friday, then go sit in a humid pool on Saturday,” she said.
The couple had a wide circle of lifelong friends with whom they often traveled and gathered for dinner parties. Mrs. Metzger’s outgoing personality was always on full display, she said.
“She was really the social one and my dad was more quiet, they really complemented each other,” she said. “She was always interested in people, and she knew a lot of people.”
Mrs. Metzger was active at Hope Lutheran Church and for many years, she volunteered with the Toledo Museum of Art membership drive. She was also a 75-year active member of Delta Gamma Sorority, where she volunteered to provide sight testing for young students. Being active in a multitude of community organizations and events derived from a sense of genuine empathy and care for the community, said her daughter Sally Friend.
“My mom and dad were humble, they were gracious, and they never really wanted accolades to be directed at themselves,” Ms. Friend said. “They believed in their community, they believed in supporting their community, and they raised their family here; this is where their friends were, this was home.”
Mrs. Metzger was born on March 29, 1927 in Plainfield, Ill. and at age 13, her family moved to Lansing. She graduated from what is now known as Michigan State University, where she received a bachelor’s degree in business. Shortly after graduating from college she met her husband Herbert Metzger, whom she married June 16, 1951. He died in 2013.
Surviving are her daughters Sue Metzger, Sally Friend, and Holly Metzger; eight grandchildren; three step-grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; and her sister Mary Ann Eifert.
Visitation will be from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at Reeb Funeral Home in Sylvania, with services at 11 a.m. on Monday at Hope Lutheran Church.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that tributes be considered for Hope Lutheran Church Salem Fund, Assistance Dogs for Achieving Independence, the Toledo Zoo, or a charity of a person’s choice.
First Published January 25, 2022, 5:00 a.m.