Deputy auditor knew Wood County well

12/10/2004

BOWLING GREEN - Gloria M. Ault, who enjoyed a 25-year career in the Wood County auditor's office, died Monday of apparent congestive heart failure at the Heritage Inn Nursing Home. She was 74.

From 1964 until her retirement in 1989, Mrs. Ault was a deputy county auditor, helping prepare tax bills, sell dog licenses, and type detailed property descriptions.

"She probably could never get lost in Wood County," Trudy Kay Ault, her daughter, said. "She knew where every road and every property was."

Her job allowed her to watch the county's gradual growth. "Staying up with that was kind of fun for her," her daughter said.

Before that, she was assistant postmaster for several years in Bradner, Ohio, sorting mail for delivery and selling postage.

After graduating in 1947 from the former Bradner High School, she worked at a nearby Heinz tomato processing plant. She also assembled electric fans at the former Bersted Manufacturing Co. in Fostoria and later worked at the Foster Duck Farm.

She worked at the former Rossford Ordnance Depot as a clerk-typist until it closed in the mid-1950s.

When she was just 17, Mrs. Ault suffered severe facial cuts when she was thrown through the windshield of a car in an accident, her daughter, said.

Rescuers took her to a doctor's office in Wayne, Ohio.

"Old Doc Watson [Dr. Thomas Watson] worked on her there all night long and put her face back together. He was an old Army surgeon, and he knew he could sew her up. He didn't have to take her to the hospital," the daughter remarked. She recovered at home. "They took all the mirrors down in the house," she said. "It was quite an ordeal.

"She was devastated, but she was confident and had an incredible spirit. She healed well and went on with her life. She did remarkably well."

Mrs. Ault returned to high school in the fall and picked up where she left off. She continued to perform in school plays, something she had done in previous years.

Her husband, John R. Ault, died in 1995.

Surviving are her son, Rodney; daughter, Trudy Kay Ault; sister, Carolyn Smith, and three grandchildren.

Services will be at 11 a.m. today in Bradner United Methodist Church, where the body will be an hour before the service. Arrangements are by Barndt Funeral Home, Wayne.

The family suggests tributes to the church or the Wood County Senior Center.