Bob Springer is a football coach at Federal Hocking high school, and was offensive coordinator at Parkersburg High, W.Va., when they won a state championship.

His brother Gary Springer is an engineer who has worked and lived in the Houston area since 1969. Their father was Ron Springer, who ran the Ohio Power office on Center Street where Bob Linn’s Sporting Good store later started.

Virginia Bryant worked there. Some of you will remember the $1.25 barbershop down the stairs to the right of the Ohio Power location.

Tim Plymale worked at Ohio Power and officiated various sports, but was best known for umpiring baseball games.

The Plymales once lived at 1306 S. Ninth next to the Williamson grocery store, which was on the corner.

Bob and Gary’s mother was Mrs. Mary Lavina Springer; she was the nurse for the Ironton city schools in the early 1950s with an office in Memorial Hall to the right of the main outdoor front stairs and down three steps to her outside office door.

The recreation office was down a similar set of steps to the left of the main staircase.

Mrs. Springer, a registered nurse, had earlier been the county health nurse.

As such, she visited people throughout the county. Gary remembers her stories of visiting people who lived in caves with dirt floors; some of these cave homes had electricity and some had water, and all were cool in the summer.

The Springers lived at 2721 S. Ninth St. and shopped at Kizzee’s Grocery store. At Kizzee’s customers were allowed to run up monthly bills without having to fool with credit cards or debit cards.

There were high shelves stocked with goods on the side walls. The grocer used a grabber to extend the arm and get the goods down. Dick and Phil Rice grew up in that neighborhood, along with many others.

Back even farther in the past, in 1914 Ironton, T.H.B. Jones, former warden of the Ohio State Penitentiary, lived at 519 Center Street.

Lumberman and contractor W.L. Schweickart lived at 1013 S. Sixth St. Attorney O.E. Irish lived at Sixth and Monroe, I’m not sure which corner.

Taken for the construction of Rite Aid were John R. Gilfillan’s former Park Ave. home — he was secretary of the Belfont Iron Works, and F. C. Tomlinson’s former home at 721 Park Ave.

Mr. Tomlinson was cashier of the Second National Bank. E.J. Merrill, who later started his own drug company, lived at 221 S. Sixth St., and was then Manager of the Ball Warfield Drug Co.

The president of City Council in 1914 was F.W. Ehrlich, who lived in the big house with the round front room at Sixth and Neal. Oscar Richey, president of the Kelley Nail and Iron Co., lived at 628 S. Sixth St.

The home of Thomas L. Collett was at the corner of Fifth and Park and was razed for construction of Lincoln Savings & Loan. In Mr. Collet’s garage his industrious sons started the Ironton Morning News.

I think Ritter Collett, who is in the sports writers hall of fame, was one of those sons.

Dan Rapp is pastor of Ohio Baptist Church and a south Ironton resident.