Gayleen Gindy

In 1925 George C. and Mabelle E. Housler purchased Lot 4 of Hubbard’s Addition, now home to Little Ceasar’s Pizza. A May 1927 building permit was granted to Housler to build a new 1-1/2 story dwelling on this lot. The builder was the Charles F. Brunt Company of Toledo, and the estimated cost was $3,000.

In the 1930 census the home was listed as being rented to the George L. Leroux family. He was 23 years old and employed as a bus driver for the bus line. His wife, Bernice M. Leroux, was 24 years old and his daughter, Georgie Leroux, was listed as 2 years old. Also living with them was Jennie Warner – grandmother – 80 years old – widowed.

In 1933, during the heart of the Depression years, the mortgage company, Central Securities Corp., took over ownership of the home. That same year Dennie C. Roe purchased the home.

Dennie married Martha Enright in 1928 in Sandusky, Ohio, and by the 1930 census they were renting a home on Maplewood Avenue in Sylvania where he was listed as a self-employed decorator.

The 1940 census shows Dennie and his wife Martha living in the home valued at $3,000. He was listed as 39 years old and employed as a painter and decorator operating his own business. Martha was listed as a stenographer for a law firm. Their daughter Sharon was 10 years old and attending school.

By the 1950 census they are living in our subject home. Dennie was listed as 47 years old and employed as a painter and home decorator. Martha was also listed as 47 years old and employed as a secretary for a law office. Their daughter Sharon was away attending school at Dennison University.

In April of 1952 an engagement announcement appeared reporting that Sharon Roe, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dennie C. Roe, was engaged to William R. Hile of Greenville, Ohio. At that time she was a senior at Miami University, and Hile was also a student there in the School of Business Administration.

Dennie Roe lived in the home until he passed away in March 1968 at the age of 65. At the time of his death he was in Lakeland, Florida vacationing. His obituary said that he was a self-employed painter most of his life. That same year the home transferred to Martha and she lived in it until 1989 when she sold to San-Warr Properties. She died in 1997 at the age of 95 years old, and was living in Dayton, Ohio, where her daughter Sharon was living. Her obituary said that she had been employed as a secretary for Boggs, Boggs and Boggs Attorneys at Law for over 30 years.

In 1989 John G. and Jane L. Day purchased the home and in 1991 the home was demolished along with the houses on both sides to make way for a new development known as Sylvania River Crossing. The property where this house was, today is occupied by Little Caesars Pizza.

A little side note about John G. Day: In 1978 while employed for18 years at the Toledo Blade as a circulation manager, he started a small video business out of the basement of his Toledo “Elmhurst” home. He loved old classic movies and started renting and selling them through a mail-order business. In 1980 he opened his first video store at 3123 W. Sylvania Ave., and then quit his job at the Blade. By 1989, when he purchased our subject property, he made plans to build a complex to include his video store known as “Video Connection.” By that time he was among the nation’s fastest-growing video stores, and by 1990 he had 90 stores in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana with sales of $23.5 million. Video Connection was the 10th largest video-store chain in the U.S. Day had franchises as well.