Virginia Zeigler Meister

Virginia Ruth Zeigler Meister, 1922-2017, Local Businesswoman

A true member of the “greatest generation”, Virginia Ruth Zeigler Meister, local businesswoman, passed into the hands of our Lord on March 9, 2017, in Jacksonville Beach, FL.   She was 94 years young!  Virginia had been a Bradenton, FL resident since 1993.  Then in 2013, she moved to Ashford Court, an assisted living facility, in Jacksonville Beach, FL, to be near her daughter, Nancy Hotchkiss.

Virginia was born in Dunbridge, OH on September 19, 1922; the fourth child born to Blanche May (Muir) and Harvey James Zeigler, Sr.  She graduated with a classical degree from Bowling Green High School in 1940, and attended Bowling Green State University, where she was a member of Alpha Xi Delta sorority. Virginia married Russell Harding Meister (who predeceased her in 1991) at the Trinity United Brethren Church (Trinity United Methodist Church) on December 27, 1947.  Russell was from Keokuk, IA and they had met at Harvey’s, the Zeigler family restaurant, where Virginia was a waitress.  Russell was attending Bowling Green State University on the GI Bill, following his Army Air Corps service during WWII.

Virginia’s mother and father had opened and operated the very popular Harvey’s Restaurant (known for its home cooking and excellent pies).  It was a Bowling Green institution (eventually operated by her brother, Jim) located just off the “four corners”—the intersection of Routes 6 and 25.  Harvey’s Restaurant attracted community members, college students and professors, and travelers.  Each of Virginia’s three sisters also met their husbands at Harvey’s while waitressing.  The Zeigler family was recognized and honored for their contribution to Bowling Green at the Wood County Historical Society’s Wood County Living History Day in 2009.  During the program, Virginia shared stories from Harvey’s Restaurant as she portrayed her mother, Blanche.

Virginia and Russell were married for 44 years, and were members of the Portage Valley Dance Club as well as the Bowling Green Country Club where she was the Runner-up Ladies Golf Champion in 1953.  Besides golfing, Virginia was skilled at entertaining, gardening, bridge, poker and bingo.  She loved to cook, and was well-known to her family and friends for her culinary skills, especially her pork chops and flaky pie crust.  She baked and distributed well over 50 plates of Christmas cookies annually to grateful family and friends.  Virginia was also a member of The Order of the Eastern Star as well as the Bowling Green chapter of Sorosis, where she would present researched papers.

Virginia avidly followed college sports and professional golf to the end of her life, eagerly filling out the brackets for March Madness.  She and Russell had BGSU season tickets for football, basketball, and ice hockey; they were charter members of the Bowling Green State University Falcon Club.  Virginia also loved to travel, and one of the many highlights of her varied trips was with her sister, Marilyn, to Lake Placid, NY, in 1984, to watch the BGSU hockey team win their only  NCAA Division I championship defeating the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs in the longest championship game in the tournament’s history.

In 1954, Virginia established a very successful antique business with the support of her mother-in-law, Irene Meister.  She had an unerring eye for buying quality antiques—specializing in vintage jewelry, linens, and glassware.  On any given weekend, Virginia loved scouring yard and estate sales to find those treasures.  In fact, she and life-long friend, Marion Dunn, were credited--in a Bowling Green Sentinel Tribune article—with having the very first yard sale in Bowling Green.

During her business years, Virginia maintained her antique shop—in her homes on Liberty and Clay streets—as well as traveled to Chicago, Detroit, Fort Wayne, Columbus, Lakeside, and many other localities participating in antique shows in the fall and spring.  She was also in demand for conducting Estate Sales in Bowling Green.

Virginia’s passing from this life marks the end of an era.  She created beautifully decorated, warm and welcoming homes for her beloved family and friends—treasuring visits from her daughters and grandchildren.  Virginia was always ready for a party, travel adventure, games of bridge and bingo, and finding the newest treasure at the next yard sale.

Virginia is survived by and will be dearly missed by her loving family:  brother-in-law, Jack Haessig Meister (Maelu) of Keokuk, IA;  daughters, Marilyn Tropiano (Vincent) of Cortlandt Manor, NY ; Nancy Hotchkiss (Ted) of  Ponte Vedra, FL;  grandchildren: David Tropiano (Sarah) of Arlington, VA, Amanda (John) Olyha  of Fairfield, CT, Matthew (Holly) Frey of Lees Summit, MO, Jacqueline Frey of Jacksonville Beach, FL.; and great-grandsons:  Xander James Frey and Carter Russell Tropiano. . . as well as many nieces, nephews and dear friends.

Virginia was also predeceased by her mother and father, sisters: Grace Swigart, Donelda Maddex, and Marilyn Carlson, and her brother, Harvey James Zeigler, Jr.

Virginia will be interred in the Zeigler family plot in Oak Grove Cemetery.  There will be celebrations of her life at Ashford Court in Jacksonville, FL and in Bowling Green, OH in late May.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the family church:  Trinity United Methodist Church, 200 N. Summit Street, Bowling Green, Ohio, 43402.

“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.”
― Thomas Campbell, Scottish poet