Verdi von Thron - Linda Higgins

To say that Verdi von Thron left her mark on Port Clinton’s history would be a bit of an understatement: She was a dynamo! Agnes Verdi Cangney was born on Catawba Island on March 5, 1899, to J.P. and Rachel Cangney. She graduated in 1917 from the Oak Harbor Normal School, where her family believes she met her future husband. Verdi and Leonard Carl von Thron married on June 18, 1923, at Immaculate Conception in Port Clinton.

They and their children, Joseph and Judy, first lived in Toledo, where Leonard worked as a securities salesman for the Toledo Bond Company. They often relocated with Leonard’s job (Florida, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Illinois, for example), settling on Catawba in 1938.

Verdi was the Catawba Island correspondent for the Sandusky Register from 1938 through 1941, responsible for the society column. She and Leonard also operated Catawba’s Cottage Inn, inherited by Verdi's mother. Leonard became ill in August of 1939 and died in January of 1940, at age 44. He was buried in the von Thron family plot in Port Clinton’s Riverview Cemetery.

Verdi, a single mother, continued running the Cottage Inn, and became deeply involved with the war effort, clubs and politics on Catawba and in Port Clinton, as well as with the county. World War II saw Verdi become County Rationing Secretary and Inspector, a member of the Ottawa County Office of Price Administration’s War Price and Rationing Board, and of the War Meat Program Committee. By 1945 she was Chief Clerk of the county’s Office of Price Administration. She remained proprietor of the Cottage Inn, leasing it during summers until 1950, when it and its parking lot were sold to Miller Boat Livery. It was razed in 1951 to become the Livery’s parking lot.

In her spare time (!), Verdi was an officer and active member of numerous high-profile clubs and community organizations. She had graduated from the Bowling Green, Miami University, and Ottawa County Normal Schools, and taught on Catawba, in Port Clinton, and in Gypsum. She also taught night school for the Federation of Women’s Club.

Verdi was active in Ottawa County Democrat politics as an officer of the Democratic Women’s Club; campaign co-chairman for the Charles W. Sawyer for Governor campaign; and county delegate to the Democrat State Convention, where she was invited to tea with Governor and Mrs. Frank J. Lausche. In 1950, Verdi was endorsed unanimously for Postmaster of Port Clinton by the Ottawa County Democratic Central Committee and Congressman Thomas Burke. She became acting Postmaster, President Truman nominating her shortly thereafter for the Postmaster position. The Senate confirmed her in December of 1950 and Verdi became Port Clinton’s first female Postmaster.

The Daily News named her Port Clinton's Woman of the Year in 1955. Unsurprisingly, she was the first female President of the Ohio Chapter, National Association of Postmasters of the United States in 1961-62, and served as Postmaster for the State of Ohio.

After she resigned her position on December 30, 1966, she continued actively in her clubs and in support of community services such as Ida Rupp Public Library. An expert bridge player, she also taught bridge and traveled. Verdi eventually moved to Cocoa Beach, Florida, with her son, Dr. Joseph C. von Thron, as her caretaker. She died on May 3, 1994, at 95 years of age, and was buried next to Leonard in Riverview Cemetery.

A memorial, made possible in 1998 through generous family and community donations, took form as the Verdi von Thron Community Tennis Center at Port Clinton High School. The Tennis Industry magazine awarded “Court of the Year” to the complex in 1999. In 2003 it was renamed the von Thron-Hablitzel Tennis Center in honor of Dr. Mark A. Hablitzel and the von Throns, first cousins once removed.

Verdi von Thron made quite an impact on the community, while setting a strong and loving example for her family. When her daughter, Judy von Thron, married Walter L. Burdorf, this von Thron family line ended, but her family’s admiration for her continues: Walter L. Burdorf III provided the concept and data from which this very abbreviated profile of Port Clinton’s first female Postmaster was taken.