The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Four people, four parks
Among five parks in Amherst, three are named for people and the city pool also bears the name of a benefactor who helped pay for its construction. There are thousands of children and adults who enjoy recreation in Amherst — and who likely never met Maude
But those residents’ names live on at the sites where residents and visitors can catch a breath of fresh air, play on a jungle gym, take a dip or cheer on a soccer team.
Amherst City Councilman Matt Nahorn and fire Chief Jim Wilhelm are among the local historians who maintain archives on the parks for the Amherst Historical Society.
The Amherst Library also keeps a local history room. Melanie Presler, the library’s adult services manager, and Reference Specialist Becky Denes also compiled historical records relating to the four people whose names now are part of Amherst park history.
Neiding
Neiding was Amherst’s village librarian for years in the first half of the 20th Century.
She donated the land that would become Maude Neiding Park at 960 Cleveland Ave., and the village took possession of the deed to the 10-acre woods in 1957.
“I want to see the woods kept for all the people of Amherst to enjoy,” she said in a news report from the time. “I have always thought it the prettiest part of town and would like others to enjoy it as I have.”
The next year, the Army came to Amherst to help clear the land.
About 50 reservists of Company H of the 308th Engineering Corps came from Cleveland two Sundays in a row armed with bulldozers, Jeeps, air compressors and a field kitchen, according to a report from the Amherst News-Times in October 1958.
“In true military procedure, the men were assembled and divided into squads under squad leaders, in preparation for the ‘attack,’” the report said. “Armed with machetes, axes, brush hooks and saws they entered the dense undergrowth, where vines and brush had been allowed to grow unhampered for years.”
The park dedication was to take place Nov. 9, 1958.
“We, the Citizens of Amherst, take pride in honoring Miss Maude Neiding for her unselfish contribution towards the welfare of our community,” the dedication program said. “We ask God to bless her for this worthy conviction and unlimited faith in hope it will inspire all of us to give our wholehearted support of this fine park, in that it shall be a sound investment in tomorrow’s citizens.”
Neiding, then “a conservative 80,” attended the ceremony driven “in a sleek, black Impala convertible,” according to the News-Times.
She asked not to be included as a speaker. On her behalf, Park Committee Chairman Albert P. Goohs conveyed a message of thanks to the people of Amherst for their efforts.
In January 1959, Jack Koontz, a park committee member, penned a tribute to the late Neiding.
He described her as one of Amherst’s “most faithful, although one of its quietest, supporters.”
“To most she was merely a quiet little old lady, unknown and unrecognized,” Koontz wrote. Library users knew “her devotion to her lifelong work and her untiring efforts to raise the reading standards of her community,” he said.
Neiding’s donation of land came as a surprise to most of the village; it was done so quietly that it might have had no publicity, except for the magnitude of the gift, Koontz said.
“Those who learned to appreciate good books and those who in years to come will enjoy the benefits of the Maude Neiding Park, will all owe a great debt to a fine citizen,” he said.
Schmauch
Efforts to develop the park came fairly quickly. The Amherst Park Commission launched a campaign for a $230,000 bond issue on the ballot.
For the approximate cost of $5 per family per year for 21 years, Amherst could have a park with “swimming pools, picnic grounds, parking and play areas for children of all ages,” according to a letter from the Park Commission.
Voters in May 1965 turned down a levy for park improvements, but in August 1965, Amherst City Council voted to proceed with park improvements — including a pool.
The same month, the city officials got word they would get financial help from the estate of Anna Schmauch, according to a News-Times report.
Before her death, Schmauch lived on Prospect Street across from the Amherst hospital. She made several specific bequests, including part of her estate “only for a swimming pool in Maude Neiding Park, or such other uses as the park association might deem advisable,” according to the report.
Schmauch’s estate was in probate at the time, but the gift was estimated to be at least $20,000.
In September 1965, Council voted to move ahead with the pool. One company bid on the construction, which was to cost $85,000, according to a Lorain Journal report.
The park and the pool were not without public debate in Amherst, with city officials and residents coming down for and against the project.
The 1965 Journal report stated Councilman John Mattey opposed the pool, not least because “the people have twice voted down a proposed swimming pool.”
Mattey argued the pool would cost $100,000 with about $30,000 a year in additional maintenance costs, but Amherst had no general fund money for the expenditures, according to the Journal report.
On Memorial Day 1966, the pool opened. A Lorain Journal report from the time noted “For those who wished to swim in yesterday’s chilly temperatures, the swimming was free all day.”
The city pool at Maude Neiding Park still bears Schmauch’s name.
Two parks, two mayors
Tucked away behind the shopping centers between Cooper Foster Park Road and Ohio Route 2, Amherst has a number of soccer fields named for two mayors.
“These two parks are located off Cooper Foster Park Road behind Amherst Plaza,” the city description said. “You can enter Jaworski Park at the intersection of Amchester Drive and Kresge Drive.
“They are named after former Mayors Anthony DePaola and John Jaworski,” according to the official description. “These facilities are adjacent to each other and are a favorite site for soccer games.”
DePaola died of cancer in May 2008 at age 79, according to his obituary.
He was born in 1928 in Yonkers, N.Y., and served in the Army in Japan at the conclusion of World War II.
DePaola lived in New York, studying at Columbia University, before moving to South Dakota, where he earned his degree from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. He moved to Texas, then landed in Amherst in 1961.
DePaola worked 35 years as a chemical engineer for United States Steel. He served on City Council before serving three terms as mayor from 1972 to 1984.
DePaola also worked as a real estate agent for 23 years and maintained “The Crate Shoppe,” which sold wood crafts locally and nationally.
Jaworski succeeded DePaola as mayor. He served from 1984 to 1996.
Jaworski died in March 2017 at age 91, according to his obituary. He was born in 1925 and was the son of John Jaworski Sr., who served as mayor of Lorain from 1952 to 1962.
A Lorain High School alumnus, Jaworski served in the Navy during World War II. After 30 years of service, he retired in 1987 as meat manager of Finast Pick-nPay Grocery Store.
A staunch Democrat, Jaworski served more than 20 years as chairman of the Amherst Democratic Precinct Committee.
He enjoyed spending time watching sports games of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and picking them up from school.
“Everyone who knew John would beep and wave to him passing by his home since he spent much of his free time mowing the lawn and tending to his flowers,” his obituary said. “Both friends and family enjoyed the tomatoes he would give as gifts from his garden each year.”