Martha Rose Zeitzheim [1941-2014]; Port Clinton real estate broker active in church and community

8/19/2014

OAK HARBOR, Ohio — Martha Rose Zeitzheim, 73, a former real estate broker and active member of her church, died Thursday in Stein Hospice in Sandusky.

Her daughter-in-law, Diane Zeitzheim, said she died of complications from pneumonia. She had been in good health until July 31, when she was taken to Magruder Hospital in Port Clinton, she said.

Mrs. Zeitzheim, called Marti by friends and family, was married to the late David Zeitzheim, a retired Ottawa County Probate judge. They wed Aug. 1, 1963; he died Dec. 31, 2011.

Mrs. Zeitzheim said her mother-in-law had been a broker for Batdorff Realty in Oak Harbor and was a natural in sales.

“She loved her job. She had a gift for gab,” she said. “I know some people she sold a house to, and they became friends because of that sale.”

After her husband retired from the bench, she quit real estate so she could spend summers with him at their condos in Port Clinton and Put-In-Bay, she said.

Born April 21, 1941, to Elinor and Robert Gabel in Fremont, she attended St. Joseph High and Rosary College, River Forest, Ill., and Tiffin University.

She belonged to St. Boniface Catholic Church in Oak Harbor while her sons attended school there and was a member of the church’s parenting group and parish council. She later became active in Immaculate Conception Church in Port Clinton, where she was an Eucharistic minister.

She also belonged to the Oak Harbor Literary and Social Club, Port Clinton Arts Council, and Port Clinton Yacht Club. She was a past member of the Magruder Hospital auxiliary board.

Surviving are her sons, Eric and Scott; sister, Mary Ann Merkel; brother, James Gabel, and five grandchildren.

The funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. today in Immaculate Conception Church. The family suggests tributes to Stein Hospice, Immaculate Conception Church, or St. Boniface Church.

Contact Mark Reiter at: markreiter@theblade.com or 419-724-6199.