It Happened in Crawford County: Deb Hoover shares the story of the Presbyterian Dolls

Deb Hoover is a daughter of Harry Wells and Dorothy Watts Wells. Deb’s siblings are Denny and David Wells, and Diane Kaple. During Deb’s childhood from about 1951 to 1962, her dad, Harry, was an insurance salesman for the Watts and Wells Insurance Agency on Faustina Avenue, later moving to the Rensselaer Street location behind Romanoff’s Jewelers, where it became Watts Insurance Agency. Harry’s twin, May Laipply, was his secretary, while Dorothy’s mother, Florence Watts, was the office manager.

Deb started school at Kilbourne Elementary where her children and grandchildren went as well. Deb later taught there. A cheerleader at Bucyrus High School, Deb was president of the senior class — the last class to graduate from the old high school, now the elementary. Deb started as an aide for Bucyrus City Schools before going to college. When she was 40 in 1992, she enrolled at the Ohio State University and completed her degree in elementary education. She was in college at the same time as her children. She began her master’s degree at Ashland University and her son Matthew was there also. They even had one class together. He didn’t mind, and his friends enjoyed it, too.

Next, Deb started teaching in 1996 at Bucyrus Kilbourne Elementary as a first-grade teacher. Deb loved teaching; the students are so full of wonder and that is the year for learning to read. Deb wanted them to experience life, especially for children who have limited opportunities. They can go anywhere in a book, and she wanted to instill in them a love of reading. Once in a while it can be a thankless job but it can also be very rewarding. She said most teachers are extremely dedicated, despite the current pressures put on the profession. She retired in 2015 after 30 years in the classrooms. Her husband, Steve, spent 40 years working at the Bucyrus GE plant as the Quality Control Manager, followed by six years as a consultant there.

Deb’s next adventure in life was writing the story of the Presbyterian Dolls. Both Steve and her mom were very supportive. Deb’s grandmother, Florence Watts, painted some of them and had given her one in 1956. When that doll was destroyed by her dog, Deb began searching for another her grandmother had painted. But, in her quest, she learned the story of the Bucyrus Presbyterian doll had never been told. That explains how she fell into the printing of a book. All she wanted to do was to tell the story. The early dolls were made from 1885 to 1913. Then they passed the pattern to one of the girls who helped make them. The pattern had been lost for 40 years, until a girl named Clara, a member of the church, came forward in 1956. She said, “I have the pattern, could we make the dolls again, this time to pay for the organ?”

Edith Miller took the pattern and made one as a prototype, the first of the "modern era" from 1956 to 1984 when they stopped making dolls. They’ve been shipped all over the world, including one to Grace Kelly who bought it for her daughter, the Princess of Monaco. It was the most notable. They went to children’s homes, orphanages — wherever the orders came from. The late Helen Neff had her original “Mamie” doll from the time she was 2. When Helen passed, Deb thinks it was donated to the Bucyrus Historical Society. Helen’s mother was 99 when she passed and was one of the early doll makers.

Deb said it’s difficult to identify the painters of the early dolls, but Annie Keller was definitely one. The modern era dolls were mostly painted by Alice Tupps; but 200 dolls were painted by Florence Watts, Deb’s grandma. The dolls today are quite valuable for collectors and getting more and more rare, particularly the early ones. Despite what some people think, the dolls were only made in the Bucyrus Presbyterian Church. Currently, there are no dolls available for sale. Over the 30 years that Alice painted the faces, they think there were around 4,000 made and sold.

The book is a paperback, 188 pages full of color photos, and can be ordered by emailing sdhoover2@yahoo.com.

Steve and Deb were married 50 years. They met at a Bucyrus-Wynford basketball game when he was a senior and she was a sophomore. They married in 1970 and have two children: Amy (Tim) Plumley (see Tim's story in 2019). Amy is a seventh grade English teacher at Bucyrus. Matthew (Anne) Hoover is a sixth grade science teacher at Colonel Crawford. Deb has six grandchildren.

In closing, Deb says the doll story became a labor of love for her. She wanted the ladies to be honored for their contribution. She occasionally does presentations to doll clubs, including in Indiana, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Ohio.

Go online for more of Mary Fox’s stories and photos on bucyrustelegraphforum.com. If you are interested in sharing a story, write Mary Fox, 931 Marion Road, Bucyrus, OH 44820 or email littlefoxfactory@columbus.rr.com.

This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Former teacher Deb Hoover shares the story of the Presbyterian Dolls