Cecil Oehler
Life-long Prospect resident Cecil Oehler, age 84, died Monday evening, May 16, 2011 at home surrounded by his loving family. He was the youngest of seven children, born December 13, 1926 in Prospect to the late William and Emma (Knappenberger) Oehler.
On June 20, 1969 he married the former Vera L. (Criswell) Stover and she survives in Prospect.
He was a member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Waldo and a former long-time member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Prospect where he had served as Deacon in 1968. He attended Prospect Local School, graduating in 1944. He was president of the Alumni Association in 1969 and again in 1994. He was elected to the school board in 1963. He worked for Standard Oil for 30 years, including owning and operating the Sohio station in Prospect from 1951 to 1976, where he was known as “Cec on the Corner.” After that, he went to work for the Marion County Engineers office from 1977 to 1994.
He loved all sports, especially Ohio State and the Cincinnati Reds. He enjoyed talking to all his friends and playing cards.
Cec was a member of the Lions Club since 1959 and had served in various capacities over the years, including Treasurer from 1982 to 1988, President of the Club in 1990, Lion of the Year Award in 1985-1986 and he received the Melvin Jones Award in 1990 for humanitarian services from Lions International.
He was a member of the Prospect Senior Citizens since 1982, serving as Vice President in 1997, and was on the building committee. Cecil served as Prospect Township trustee for 12 years beginning in 1993. He was an original board member of the Prospect Sun Swim Pool in 1959, volunteered for the Red Cross at Marion General Hospital for 10 years, and Prospect Fire Board member in 2002.
He was an observer for the National Weather Service from 1959 to 2010, receiving the Dick Hagermeyer Award in 2006 for 45 years of service and the Edward H. Stoll Award on June 17, 2010 for 50 years of service. In 1990 he received the John Campus Observer Award, the second highest honor from the National Weather Service only to the Thomas Jefferson Award, which he received in 2004, being the only Ohio observer to receive it out of 12,000 observers nationwide.
On October 27, 2007 the new bridge spanning the Scioto River in Prospect was dedicated in his honor and is called the Cecil Oehler Bridge.
Besides his wife, he is survived by a son, Larry (Jane) Oehler, Columbus; a daughter, Karen (Gary) Qualmann, Columbus; a step-son, Richard (Lisa) Stover, Huntsville; a step-daughter, Penny Stover (Chuck) Buck, Prospect; grandchildren, Tad (Jennifer) Oehler, Angie (Vadim) Oehler, Kate Qualmann, Scott Qualmann, Aric (Brandy) Stover, Jennifer Gossett, Sarah Buck, Daniel (Susan) Buck; step-grandchildren, Sadie, Mikaela and Max Oyer; great-grandchildren, Isabelle and Lark Oehler, Bailee Stover, Makayla Stover, Maria Gossett, Christian Miller, Madison Miller, and Andrew Vinokur.
He was preceded in death by all of his siblings, Ruth Arndt, Freda Blue, Carl Oehler, Mickie Ruth, and two infant brothers.
Funeral services will be Friday, May 20, 2011 at 11:00 AM in St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Waldo with Pastor Sarah Schaaf officiating. Burial will follow in Waldo Cemetery. Friends may call from 3 to 8 PM on Thursday at the Church in Waldo. Family and friends are invited to attend Cecil’s last crossing of the bridge that bears his name in Prospect on Thursday, May 19 at noon on his way to the church. The family is being assisted by Stofcheck-Ballinger Funeral Home, Prospect.
Memorial gifts may be made to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 135 West Main Street, Waldo, OH 43356 or the Ohio Chapter Myasthenia Gravis Foundation (www.ohiochaptermgf.org), 500 W. Wilson Bridge Road, Suite 105, Worthington, OH 43085
Condolences and remembrances may be expressed at www.stofcheck-ballinger.com
Stofcheck-Ballinger Funeral Home