BIOGRAPHY

Ethelyn Fitzsimmons was born in Marietta, Ohio, USA, on 17 May 1915. She was the only child of Herman VonHelmers and Lucille Boothby. Her parents separated six months after her birth and later divorced. Her father, a German immigrant, was not a significant presence in her life. She recalled meeting him once and not liking him very much. Her mother later remarried Clyde Timblin, a reporter for the Marietta Times.

She attended a one-room schoolhouse in Monroe County, walking a mile through the fields each day to get there. She frequently missed school due to asthma. Her teacher advanced her from fourth to sixth grade, skipping fifth entirely—so she never learned fractions. The local high school had only three rooms. She took home economics, but with the classroom heated by a wood-burning stove, lessons often ended before the stove was even warm enough to be useful. There was only one sewing machine, so she learned to sew by hand.

In her junior year, Ethelyn developed double pneumonia, followed by whooping cough, causing her to miss an entire year of school. Despite these setbacks, she earned a scholarship to Marietta College, where her favorite subjects were German, creative writing, and geology. She dreamed of going to Germany to master the language and teach it to preschool and elementary students. She also had a natural talent for writing poetry and composing music. Her first and favorite piece was written in high school; her final composition was crafted for a 4-year-old to play.

In the 1940s, Ethelyn began working at Green Cross Hospital in Akron. She spent seven and a half years in the X-ray department, typing all X-ray and major surgery reports. In 1950, she married James Paul Fitzsimmons (1916–1979).

Fitzsimmons was later hired as a secretary at Kent State University, where she worked for 19 and a half years in the president’s office. She served under President George Bowman, President Robert White, and briefly under President Glenn Olds.

In 1955, Ethelyn and her husband moved to Mantua. She had already begun offering piano lessons, a passion she continued for many years, even into retirement.

RECOGNITION

Her age has not been validated.

ATTRIBUTION

* Ethelyn Justine Fitzsimmons – Find A Grave

* “Around Mantua by Virginia Goodell” – Record-Courier, 21 May 2015

* “World wars, piano and poetry: Mantua woman to celebrate 110th birthday” – Record-Courier, 11 May 2025

GALLERY