Notable women
Women who have enhanced life in our community by their presence and by their works.
(bios. written by Darlene M. Wurl, Historical society board member)
Mattie Fulsher was born Martha Ostrander. She graduated from Tomahawk High School in 1916 and, in a 1986 interview with the Tomahawk Leader, Mattie said that she and her friend, Mary Shea, did what all the graduates did then; worked at the shoe factory. “We called it the Tomahawk Normal.” Mattie said. Mattie could, and did, recount Tomahawk’s history easily for her listeners. As Kathy Tobin wrote in the interview”…with a touch of humor that Mattie can add, Tomahawk’s history becomes something a little more special to others.” Mattie worked for years at Bohmsach’s Dry Goods Store on Main St. (Wis. Ave.) where she kept the customers happy with her well-known wit and humor.
Rev. Minnie Cliff was the pastor at the Methodist Church for several years in the ‘thirties and forties.’ She was also the first woman to serve as a minister at a major Tomahawk Church.
Margaret Klade served as president of the local school board for a number of years. She was the first woman to have done so.
Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother. These women were few in number when they arrived in Tomahawk, and they did not all live here throughout their lives, but what a great and invaluable contribution they made as a group. The health care system in our town may not equal that of the state capital or some other metropolitan area, but it has been unfailingly excellent. The devotion of the Sisters through the years have helped toward that end.
Esther Venne. Perhaps more than her topnotch successors, Miss Esther Venne built the Tomahawk Public Library into one of Tomahawk’s most valuable assets. She did it with long hours of work and devotion to her duties. Esther started as an assistant in 1916, became the librarian in 1919, and remained until she retired in 1966 after nearly 50 years of service.
Mary Shea married Archie Conant. During World War II she was office manager at the War Price and rationing Board in Tomahawk. On one of her weeks of vacation she and her husband attended the West Point graduation of her oldest son – and his classmate, John Eisenhower, son of the General. Mary was active most of her later life in the American Legion Auxiliary. She, too, shared her knowledge of local history easily.
Leila Bohmsach had graduated from the University of Wisconsin. She managed the family’s business successfully on Main Street (Wis. Ave.) for many years, making it a place for women to feel at home when buying new dresses or the material to make them. Her store’s windows were noted for style and attractiveness.
Lillian Zeitelhack was the city clerk of Tomahawk for 24 years. She was a working woman in government when there weren’t many others like her. She had attended the first one-room school in Cassian and following graduation from Tomahawk High School in 1909 she attended Normal School and taught for several years in Oneida County.
Vera Theiler came to Tomahawk as a bride, married to Dr. George Theiler. She may have been the most dynamic cheerleader who ever cheered for her adopted hometown. Vera was a music teacher in teh local schools. she planned and directed numerous concerts, plays, and musicals during her tenure. Additionally she formed and directed the Tomahawk Community Chorus for over a decade. Her beautiful, strong voice graced many public occasions, and she was likely the most patriotic of all. She was also a member of the American Legion Auxiliary. Whatever she did in Tomahawk, she did with a smile, encouraging others along the way.
