Suzanne (Zander) Kretzschmar, 83, of Pemberville, Ohio passed away Saturday December 30, 2017. Sue was born in Dayton, Ohio on June 13, 1934 to Waldo H. “Butch” and August “Gus” (Foster) Zander.
She graduated from Englewood High School in 1952. She was an accomplished horsewoman as a teenager, riding five gaited horses. With the help of her parents, she took her horse to a Christian College in Columbia, Missouri. She was very successful in the horse shows she entered in Columbus, St. Louis, Kansas City and Chicago.
At that time Christian College had one of the best, if not the best horsemanship instruction in the United States. Christian College in 1952 was a two year Girl’s college. She graduated in 1954 and promptly enrolled at the University of Missouri, keeping her horse in Columbia, MO. She graduated in 1956 with a bachelors in Home Economics, majoring in interior design.
She met John Kretzschmar in a mixer in the fall of 1952 and John was her first date in college. John and Sue both graduated from the University of Missouri in 1956 and were married on October 6, 1956 in Dayton, Ohio. With John’s three years in the U.S. Air Force and job changes they moved eleven times in their first thirteen years of marriage, coming to Bowling Green in 1970.
Sue and John were the founders of Blako Industries, INC in 1970. She started working in a one girl office, as a receptionist, telephone operator, secretary and janitor. You name it, she did it. She retired in 1996 when the company was sold to key employees.
Sue had two children, Brian R. in 1958 and Leigh Anne in 1960. She had one brother Dennis Zander who preceded her in death.
John got most of the credit for Blako Industries and volunteer work in the plastics industry and Evans Scholars Foundation. This was made possible because of all the work Sue did behind the scenes. On August 16, 2003 she was presented the award Plastics Hall of Fame Team Member in Chicago, Illinois.
She was a dedicated student, horsewoman, gardener, parents, housewife, and caring individual, hardly ever raising her voice. She was a doer and not a joiner.
A Celebration of Life Service will be held on Friday January 19, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, 315 South College Drive Bowling Green, Ohio 43402. Pastor Rob Spicer will officiate. Visitation will be held from 9:30 a.m. until the time of the service. Dunn Funeral Home is handling arrangements.
Memorial contributions may be given in her memory to the Suzanne Kretzschmar Memorial Evans Scholars Foundation or the Endowment of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church.
To share an online condolence or fond memory with the family please visit www.dunnfuneralhome.com.
