Lucille Mae Ovall (1921-2021)
Jul. 24—Lucille Mae Ovall, who ran a West Toledo candy store in her 20s and, after rearing nine children, helped residents of the state psychiatric hospital in Toledo find — and succeed at — independent living, died Monday at Ohio Living Swan Creek. She was 100.
Her health problems included congestive heart failure and emphysema, her family said.
During World War II, Mrs. Ovall operated Lucy's Sugar Bowl on Sylvania Avenue, a confectionary store that featured candy made overnight by her business partner and ice cream. The enterprise was lucrative — and she left it behind for marriage and children.
"She was a doer," her daughter Cindy Mussery said. "As much as she loved the candy store, she was ready to let it go when she met Dad."
Formerly of West Toledo and Springfield Township, she and her husband, Arthur, had nine children, but when the youngest enrolled in school in the 1960s she re-entered the work force, starting with a part-time job teaching sewing at the state hospital.
Later, she helped screen residents who might be suitable for independent living, made sure they went to classes to learn such everyday skills as handling money, and worked with prospective landlords.
Some of the residents during the transition came to stay at the Ovalls' for a while.
"Flat out, she was a giver," her son Ted said. "We all got introduced to people from the hospital. When she had a vested interest in somebody, it was all out."
Her daughter Cindy said: "She looked at them as people, just as Dad did. She helped people get out, and she didn't desert them. She would go to stores and get them supplies. She wanted them to be successful. She didn't want them to end up back in the hospital."
Mrs. Ovall stayed in touch for years with several of the "patients" who had become friends.
"They weren't patients any more," son Ted said.
Born April 29, 1921, among Margaret and Adolf Geoffrion's 12 children, she grew up in East Toledo, where she graduated Waite High School.
She was a former member of St. Agnes Parish in South Toledo. At Little Flower Parish, Mrs. Ovall became a eucharistic minister and had a leading role in the St. Vincent de Paul Society.
She found artistic outlet through beadwork for years and, later, through needlepoint.
"She was known for her laugh. She was always laughing one way or another," son Ted said. "She was always optimistic."
She and Arthur Ovall married in December, 1946. He died Aug. 9, 2006. She also was preceded in death by son Mark Ovall.
Surviving are her sons, Ted, Greg, Carl, and Jeff Ovall; daughters, Cindy Mussery, Mary Williams, Carolynn Ensey, and Marilynn Cowell; 26 grandchildren, and 46 great-grandchildren.
A Mass of Christian burial will begin at 11 a.m. Wednesday in Little Flower Catholic Church, where friends may visit after 10 a.m. Arrangements are by Ansberg-West Funeral Home.
