Jeanie (Glass) (Ganger) Rigsby

JEANIE (GLASS) (GANGER) RIGSBY

I was born September 27, 1934 in Piqua, Ohio to Betty and Lester Glass.  My brother, John was born three years later in 1937.  In between, he had a sister who was stillborn.  I always wondered what it would have been like to have a sister to share girls secrets with etc…  At a young age, maybe four, I almost became the notorious nude stripper of Piqua public streets.  We lived on Main Street right next to Bennett School and I had just recently learned to dress and undress.  It was a Sunday afternoon and I had slipped out of the house, right out in front.  I gently took off each piece of clothing and piled it all neatly on the grass and then just as neatly put it back on.  The neighbors caught my show and thought my folks ought to know about it, that was the very last show.

Because of the effects of the Depression, my Dad, as many others, had trouble finding work.  We moved to Richmond, Indiana in approximately 1938 or 1939 where Dad went to work for the Crossley Company.  My brother and I were written up in the Crosley magazine and I was going to be a singer on WLW and John was going to play on the Cincinnati Reds.  Rosemary Clooney got my job and Johnny Bench may have gotten my brother's.

In 1943, my Dad got a job with the Dayton Daily News in the County Circulation Department and we moved to New Bremen, Ohio.  We bought a home and lived in New Bremen until the summer of 1951.

Some of my classmates are still very good friends and I shall always cherish my growing up years in New Bremen.  Dad’s territory changed in 1951 and we moved back to Piqua, Ohio, where I was born.  I went from a class of twenty-one students to a class of one hundred fifty two at Piqua Central High School.  Needless to say, it was quite a change.

After graduation in 1952, I worked full time at an Advertising/Direct Mail firm, Yeck Brothers, in 1967 as a receptionist, and through hard work, eventually became a secretary to the Vice-President in the Creative Department.  I enjoyed my work at the Rike-Kumler Company and Yeck Brothers very much and made good friends, continuing through today.

In 1972, my son, Greg, and I moved to Waterloo, Indiana where my folks had retired to and my brother, his wife and five children lived.  I met my husband, my forever soulmate Jim in 1973 and we were married.  We’ve been married 45 years and they have been good and happy years with roller coaster hills and valleys that we’ve managed to survive.

Anyone readying this may be saying “what kind of an obituary is this???” For several years I always have to see the obituary pages, and I read about the folks and I see where there are so many children, grandchildren etc., and I wonder how the funeral home is going to hold them all.   Or there is only a few lines and I hope those folks had good lives.  This is for all those who I knew or knew me, who I am glad to have known, until we meet again, yours always, “Jeanie”.

Services will be held at 11:00AM on Monday, April 30, 2018 at Baird Funeral Home, Troy, OH.  Interment will take place Miami Memorial park, Covington.  The family will receive friends from 2:00-4:00PM on Sunday, April 29, 2018.  

Condolences may be expressed to the family through www.bairdfuneralhome.com