Wayne Eicher

Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Eicher

Wayne Arthur Eicher was born on August 31, 1924, the second child of William B. and Mabel Roth Eicher, in Ridgeville Township, Henry County, Ohio. His sister, Irene Eicher, married Paul Fortier and lives in Ridgeville Township.

He graduated from Ridgeville High School, Ridgeville Corners, in May, 1942. On August 31, 1942, his eighteenth birthday, Wayne enlisted in the United States Army. He was sent to Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, then to Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He served thirty-eight months in the 2nd Armored Infantry. His battle record included Sicily, Normandy, Northern France, the Rhineland, Central Europe, and Ardennes. He was awarded the Purple Heart, the Belgian Fourragere, and the EAME Theatre ribbon with six bronze stars and bronze arrowhead. On October 13, 1945, he was honorably discharged at Camp Atturbury, Indiana.

On his return from military service he rented land and started farming in Ridgeville Township. For several years Wayne maintained a herd of registered Jersey cattle under the Dairy Dell Jersey Farm name.

In 1951, Wayne began working at General Motors Foundry in Defiance, Ohio. In 1956, he changed employment to the Aro Corporation in Bryan, Ohio. In March, 1974, he began working at the Campbell Soup Company in Napoleon, Ohio. He discontinued active farming in 1970 and rented out the Eicher farms.

Motter Brothers, Gilbert, Earl and Carl

Carl Motter before he went west to Kansas.

During high school days, Wayne was leader of a Little German Band that played for many Henry County functions. After his return from military service, Wayne managed and played on a semi-pro baseball team from Ridgeville that went to the state play-offs in 1951. In October 1973, a new hobby opened for Mr. Eicher when he became contributing poet to the Farmland News of Archbold, Ohio, a newspaper that covers seven northwestern counties.

Wayne is a member of the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Henry County Historical Society, and several poet organizations, and has been published in several books and newspapers. He is a 32nd degree Mason, a member of Zenobia Shrine, and belongs to the Grand Rapids Masonic lodge. His church affiliation is with the St. Paul Methodist Church in Napoleon, Ohio.

On June 30, 1946, Wayne married Genevieve Lynn Motter of Ridgeville Township. Genevieve was born Genevieve Lynn Foreman, the ninth child of George W. and Myrtle Lynn Foreman of Lucas County, Ohio. Other Foreman children were George, Jr., Samuel, Alonzo, Harry, Ervin, Ruth, Ruby, and Virginia. The Foreman family settled in Washington Township, Henry County, near Colton and later in Texas, Ohio.

Mrs. Alice Tubbs Lettick Motter, 1916.

In March, 1929, Genevieve began living with Augustus and Alice Tubbs Lettick Motter and was adopted by the Motters later in 1929. Both of the Motters had been married before. Mr. Motter married Addie Davis as his first wife and had Ola, Gilbert, Carl, and Earl Motter. Mr. Motter's parents were George and Mary Eckhart Motter. Both of these families were early settlers in Freedom Township, arriving in the latter 1830's or early '40's. Mr. Motter's second wife was Alice Tubbs Lettick, the only child of Charles and Charlotte Tubbs of Adams Township, Defiance County, Ohio. Charles was one of the first pioneers in Adams Township arriving in 1836. Charlotte's father was Robert Newell who came to Florida, Ohio, in 1838. Alice Tubbs married Wilson Lettick, and had no living children. After his death, she attended Defiance College and Tri-State. For many years Alice Lettick was a teacher in rural Henry County one-room schools, and later in Deshler City School. She married Mr. Motter in 1918. Mr. Motter died in 1944 and Alice died in 1963.

Genevieve Motter Eicher graduated from Ridgeville High School in 1942, attended Bowling Green State University, taught in the Ridgeville Elementary School, and was a school librarian for several years, and also taught migrant school in Henry County.

She is an amateur genealogist, a free-lance journalist, a local historian, and has hobbies of painting, fishing, and collecting antiques. Under theprofessional name of "Bootzie," Genevieve is a clown. She belongs to Clowns of America and Clowns of Ohio. Her partner is her middle daughter, Cathie Shaffer, who uses the clown name of "Bubbles."

Mrs. Eicher belongs to the American Legion Auxiliary, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary, The Henry County Historical Society (of which she is a charter member), the Grand Rapids, Ohio, chapter of the Eastern Star, and the St. Paul Methodist Church in Napoleon, Ohio.

The Wayne and Genevieve Motter Eicher children are Lynn born in 1947 who married Gene Parrish of Pensacola, Florida, and has two children, Thomas and Tara Parrish; Cathie Eicher who was born in 1949 and married Paul Shaffer and has two children, Mark and Sara Shaffer; and Lee Ann Eicher who was born in 1954 and is a senior at Ohio State University. On September 6, 1975, she will marry Russell Colangelo of Cleveland, Ohio.

The Eicher family are involved in two historic restorations in Henry County. One is the First Congregational Church of Ridgeville and the other is the restoration of the General Scott mansion in Napoleon, Ohio, which the Eichers purchased in 1972.

Submitted by Wayne Eicher