Clara Bock, Restaurant Proprietor

Clara Halawachs was born to Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Halawachs in Germany in 1856. She came to the United States in 1865, according to U.S. Census records. On October 27, 1874, Clara Halawachs married Joseph Bock, who was also a native of Germany. Joseph Bock died of consumption (aka Tuberculosis) in 1895, leaving Clara a widow with four children.

From about 1908 until 1938, Clara Bock ran a home restaurant at 312 West Water Street. Besides running the restaurant, she also catered dinners for the Sandusky Yacht Club and the Kiwanis Club. In 1930 on the occasion of Judge E.B. King’s eightieth birthday, Mrs. Bock presented him with a birthday cake at the July Kiwanis meeting.

On April 1, 1939, Mrs. Clara Bock passed away after a brief illness. Funeral services were held at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Henry Reutler. Burial was at Oakland Cemetery. Despite leaving her homeland at a young age, and losing her husband when she was just a young woman, she was the embodiment of the American success story.

While we do not have any photographs of Mrs. Bock’s home restaurant, below is a picture of the J. and F. Bock Barber Shop in the 1880s, at 812 Water Street, the address of Mrs. Bock’s restaurant prior to the 1915 street numbering changes in Sandusky. Most likely the children in the picture are extended members of the Bock family, and the man may be her husband Joseph.