The Island's Summer Residents - Maggie Beckford

Mary Elizabeth Sutphin would be 100 years old this year on November 20th. A Cleveland native, she passed away in 2004 at the age of 80, after spending more than 50 summers at Put-in-Bay. Before her passing she began writing a book, My Summer Home, that would never be completed.

In her first years at Put-in-Bay, Mary shared a small cottage with three friends. They called it “Four Quarters.” Later she purchased a small cottage of her own. Her property was declared public domain by the federal government in 1978. Twenty-four years later, the visitor center at Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial was opened on the site of her former cottage.

Mary was one of the founding members of The Friends of Perry’s Victory (The Perry Group) that raised $120,000 to help pay for the visitor center’s exhibits. By the time the center opened in June of 2002, Mary had been living in another cottage for more than 20 years. That cottage was once owned by island photographer Otto Herbster,

Mary was also a founding member of the Lake Erie Island Historical Society. She maintained the list of more than 500 members on her tiny Macintosh, sending out newsletters and annual membership invoices.

She strongly believed in community service, supporting nonprofits, and helping people. She paid to have air conditioning installed in Mother of Sorrows Church, donated a multiline phone system to the historical Society Museum, and a Henry Link sofa and chair to the Put-in-Bay Senior Center.

Mary was born in Cleveland in 1923 to Albert C. and Mary (Hoynes) Sutphin. She was the oldest of six children. Her father built the Cleveland Arena and owned the Cleveland Barons Hockey Team. During her lifetime she worked for her father selling tickets to events at the Arena, owned a children’s clothing store, owned a window treatment design company, sold real estate, and conducted estate sales.

Her family also owned the Braden Sutphin Ink Company in Cleveland and she sat on its board of directors into her late 70’s. Her parents had given her $1 million dollars in company stock when she was a young woman. When she retired from the board, its value had tripled, but she refused to take more than the stocks’ original value. She was generous to nonprofits, her family, and friends in her will.

After managing Frosty’s for 12 seasons through the end of 1999, I spent two summers as Mary’s “assistant.” I was hired as the executive director of the island’s chamber of commerce in March of 2001. Mary and I shared a love of island history and she strongly encouraged me to take an open spot on the historical society’s board of directors.

During the 30 years I’ve owned a home on South Bass Island, I’ve amassed a large collection of Put-in-Bay memorabilia that includes thousands of images and negatives taken by Otto Herbster. I retired from the chamber in 2015, and then spend four seasons at the National Park.

I listened to Mary about joining the museum board of directors, and I’ve served as its president for the better part of the past 20 years.

People like Mary are important to the island’s small community. Without the support of South Bass Island’s summer residents, nonprofits like the historical society museum would struggle to exist.