It Happened in Crawford County: Steve Auck is happy with his career path
Steve Auck is a son of Weldon and Martha Feichtner Auck. His siblings are Douglas, Larry, Mary Ann Zeiter, twins Connie Smith and Bonnie Maul and Roger Auck. Steve started school at Buckeye Central and later, Pioneer Career and Technology Center in their horticulture program.
Steve’s grandmothers, Verna Knierieman Auck and Edna Striker Feichtner, raised a lot of flowers and Steve became interested in flowers because of them. Steve graduated in 1975 and went to work at Ten Eyck’s Greenhouse in Bucyrus. He was hired as a florist to create flower arrangements, plus anything that needed to be done.
Steve worked at Ten Eyck’s 13 years but quit to stay home with his children. Steve has a natural "God-given" talent and opened a shop called Flowers and Fancies. He started out doing craft shows in 1988, the same year his son was born. Then, in 1990, they began working on a log cabin. It was moved by a group of men called Men for Missions, along with Silas Beal. They were local people in the area, about half from his church. The cabin was moved, log by log, and after it was rebuilt, Steve and his brothers and friends did the finishing work, including the chinking.
The Aucks had a Christmas Open House in November 1993 — now a big yearly event on Thanksgiving weekend and well-attended. The cabin is filled with selections of wreaths, ornaments and gifts. Flowers and Fancies specializes in creating exquisite arrangements and bouquets for wedding, funerals and all special events. People are welcome to visit their cabin for seasonal decorations, fresh and silk floral arrangements and much more.
Hours are Tuesdays through Fridays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and other times by appointment. They are at 3710 Orr Road, Bloomville, much closer to Chatfield, and 9 miles north of Bucyrus. For more information, call 419-988-2051 or email auck.sd@gmail.com.
Steve went on a blind date with Donna Ulmer, daughter of Homer and Martha Kalb Ulmer, about 1981 and they married in 1984. Donna’s siblings are sister Loretta Feichtner (ironically her husband Bob is a first cousin to Steve Auck) and brothers Steven and Kevin Ulmer. She graduated from Wynford High School and went to college at OSU-Marion and graduated from Cedarville College with a degree in elementary education. She taught one year at Wayside Christian School and then third grade at Wynford Elementary. Donna ended her career at Wynford with 35 years teaching. She passed away from cancer in November 2020 after battling it for seven years. She was a big help in their business, and after she retired, Donna assisted in the shop.
While the Auck family were members of College Hill Church, when Steve married Donna he started attending the Pietist Church. At that time, it was on Ohio 4, a lovely brick church with stained glass windows. After some time, the church was torn down and the congregation remodeled the Buckeye West School in Chatfield at 3535 Chatfield Center Road. The dedication was on Sept. 18, 2011. It is not the first move made by the Pietists, whose history began in Germany in the 17th century. Some of these early Pietists made their first move from Germany to Pennsylvania. Their next move brought them to Crawford County prior to 1837.
At the present time, Steve is the Pietist Church’s financial secretary; he has previously served on the church council and also as their president. He has served on many other committees and presently does their decorating. It fits right into his skills. He also taught Sunday School at the old church on Ohio 4. All these jobs have kept him busy.
Steve and Donna have three children: Hannah, Reuben and Mariah. Hannah is a social worker based out of Bellefontaine. Reuben is the housing manager for The Well CDC, a nonprofit organization in Akron that buys houses in the neighborhood and renovates them to rent to low-income families. His wife Heidi is a nurse at Akron Children’s Hospital. Mariah and her husband Doug are both in management at Ashley Furniture in Marion. Steve also has two grandsons.
In closing, Steve enjoys his work every day, he thinks many people go to work and aren’t fulfilled. Looking back, Steve is happy with the path he chose working with flowers.
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This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Steve Auck finds fulfillment in flowers
