Meet Your Neighbor: Barbara Tuemler is still teaching art at 91

A prolific painter lives in Shelby. Diner 39 on Ohio 39 sells some of her work.

Meet your neighbor, Barbara Tuemler, a native of Sandusky and longtime resident of Shelby.

"I’ve always liked art,” said Tuemler. “I had done a lot of crafts; once I started painting, there weren’t any other crafts.”

“I couldn't think of a thing I wanted to do but paint,” she added. “I started with oils, and then I added acrylics; the next thing was watercolors. I’ve added colored pencils. My students love all of them and I love my students.”

Adult students, from beginners to advanced, can take a three-hour class from her.

“I used to teach five classes a week, but now it’s two or three classes a week,” said Tuemler. “We do a lot of anything that doesn’t move."

Classes are weekly. The cost is $18 for a three-hour class. An introductory class lasts for six weeks. She also offers other options for one, two or three-week classes.

Classes are small and restricted to adults.

“I don’t take anymore than six,” said Tuemler. “I teach people how to use the tools and the paint and what works best.”

Interested students can contact Marvin Memorial Library or the YMCA in Shelby.

Catholic education influenced her interest in art

A consecrated sister inspired her as a young student.

“I went to St. Mary’s in Sandusky through the fourth grade,” said Tuemler. “Then we moved and I went to Holy Angels. We had Sister Lucilla, who was a fabulous artist. In fact, she taught at the Toledo Museum of Art. She let some of us take art lessons after school.”

Tuemler later went on to take art classes at Sandusky High School and at Bowling Green State University, where she majored in elementary education.

Her mother’s love of china painting helped her choose electives.

“I didn’t get serious until my mother talked me into taking some painting classes," Tuemler noted.

Some of the world’s best teachers were at a Columbus convention every year.

“I was privileged to paint with some of the best teachers,” she said. “We had people from Japan, South America, Switzerland and Germany. I did that for probably 42 years. Never missed one year.”

From Sandusky to Shelby

Tuemler and her husband, Bill, were married for 55 years until he passed away 14 years ago. They got married less than a week after she graduated from BGSU in 1954. They had three daughters and are blessed with four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

“We had our 50th anniversary — a nice party — that our daughter and her husband put on. It was June the 10th, so it was outdoors. They did a great job," said Tuemler. "Everybody that was in my wedding was there. Can you imagine after 50 years? Most of my friends from the wedding and my college sorority sisters are still alive.”

Bill loved Marvin Memorial Library in Shelby. She said he would borrow six big books a week, and the ladies at the library wanted to serve him.

“The gals at the library would fight to be the ones to take his books out for him,” said Tuemler.

Many contributed a memorial gift to the library after Bill passed away.

“We took the money that was donated and bought the bench that you see in front of the library. It says, ‘In Memory of Bill Tuemler.’ I know he would love that,” said Tuemler.

Educating Shelby’s youth

“I was certified for kindergarten through eight. When we moved from Sandusky to Shelby, I had little children, so I couldn’t teach full-time very much, but I did sub in just about every class, in every grade, in every room, in Shelby," she recalled.

Her age hasn’t dulled her wit.

“I’ll be 92 in March,” said Tuemler. “Getting up there!”

She’s been asked the same questions over the years. What’s your favorite medium? What’s your favorite subject? Her answer is always, "Whatever I’m doing now.”

She remains active, both at The Settlement, Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church and Marvin Memorial Library.

“On Tuesdays once a month, we have a ‘recipe club,'" Tuemler said. "We each bake something along a theme. One Wednesday a month we all read the same book and discuss it. Two Thursdays a month I go to a knitting club.”

For many years she was the head of a craft show in Shelby that started at the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart seminary — now the home of Abraxas on Ohio 39.

“Some people planned their vacations or their homecoming that particular weekend in October," she said. "It went a total of 27 years — nine years at the seminary, 18 years at the Y,” said Tuemler.

“I credit the Y in keeping me moving," she added. "I have been teaching an aquanastics class at the pool for almost 50 years. I have some health issues, but it doesn’t keep me from doing what I want to do.”

Life taught her strength at a young age.

“I came from a family with five kids,” Tuemler said. “With a dad and three brothers that were characters, I had to learn how to hold my own.”

Correspondent Joe Di Lullo can be reached at jp.dilullo0926@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Barbara Tuemler, 91, shares her love of painting and more