North Baltimore beautician was village councilman

3/9/2005

NORTH BALTIMORE, Ohio - Arlouween Sue Harmon, 66, a retired beauty shop owner who was in her third full term on the North Baltimore Village Council, died yesterday in the Blanchard Valley Regional Health Center, Findlay.

She had pancreatic cancer, her sister, Margaret Bretz, said.

Ms. Harmon, appointed to council in 1992, was later elected to three terms and served as president for two years.

She served on every standing council committee and currently was on the cemetery committee, her nephew, Councilman Jeff Bretz, said.

She studied issues carefully, with input from citizens.

"[She was] someone who researched the items very well, and then acted upon what she found," he said.

In the early 1990s, she helped get a grant from the Wood County Solid Waste District for a recycling center, he said.

Until she became ill a few months ago, she only missed one meeting, when she was in the hospital recovering from a heart attack, her friend Bonnie Knaggs said.

In the 2001 election, Ms. Harmon and Mr. Bretz tied for a seat on council. Mr. Bretz lost the coin toss, but was later appointed to a seat.

"It was kind of ironic it was her and I, aunt and nephew, that tied," he said.

Ms. Harmon began working in beauty shops in the late 1950s. She bought a shop she worked at in 1970.

In 1978, she bought a former doctor's office on North Main Street and renovated it. The building contained Arlouween's Beauty Shoppe, Arlo's Sweet Shop, a craft store, and Ms. Knaggs' real estate business. The beauty shop sat 16 people.

She opened the sweet shop, serving sandwiches, soup, ice cream, and coffee.

She retired in 1992.

Ms. Harmon was born Feb. 18, 1939, in Deshler, Ohio, graduated from Deshler High School in 1957, and the Toledo Academy of Beauty in 1958.

Surviving are her sister, Margaret Bretz, and many nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be after 6 p.m. tomorrow at the Smith-Crates Funeral Home. Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday in Good Shepherd United Methodist Church.

The family suggests tributes to the church, the North Baltimore Historical Society, or the Children's Miracle Network of Ohio.