J. Leroy Weier, known as Leroy, is pictured here driving his automobile with 1911 license plates. (We don’t know the names of his passengers.) Leroy’s father, John Weier, along with Leroy’s uncle, Henry Weier, operated a scrapyard business at 1024 Hancock St., which had been started by their father. When the two Weier brothers died in the 1920’s, Leroy continued the family business until shortly before his death in 1971.Leroy Weier was also the co-owner of the Lake Shore Tire Company. His business partner was Fred Brost. The company operated from about 1915 to 1931. It began as a tire company, but by 1927 it became a sporting goods store.
Leroy married Laura Lechler in 1921. They had no children. Around the beginning of World War II, the Weiers began buying property in Middle Harbor and West Harbor in Ottawa County. Leroy was an avid hunter and outdoorsman. An excerpt from a 1969 letter by Leroy Weier appeared in the April 22, 1974 Sandusky Register. Leroy wrote: “The marshes I have known have been the greatest source of pleasure and relaxation and hobby, that have filled my entire life; one must love the feel of cold wind in the face and hear the ripple of freezing water lapping the side of the hunting boat to absorb all the ingredients that nature puts into the thrill we call wildfowling…:”Before their deaths, the Weiers sold their Ottawa County property to the State of Ohio, and the land now is part of East Harbor State Park. Seven local organizations benefited from the Estate of J. Leroy and Laura J. Weier. The $600,000 was distributed to three area hospitals, the Firelands Council of Boy Scouts, Firelands Council of Camp Fire Girls, and the Sandusky Y.M.C.A.
An early scene from the Weier Brothers Scrapyard is pictured below:
Love the photo of the car. It reminds me of the one in Beverly Hillbillies.
ReplyDeleteI am interested in the WEIER name it is the same as our family. would love any and all information on them
ReplyDeleteMy father was Theadore Weier and he ran a salvage yard and dairy farm in wi. from 1949 to 1984. any one that knows or has any comments please send them to jackieweier@yahoo.com please
I am working on the family tree for our generation and to come.
LeRoy and Laura Weier were very good friends of my grandparents Dr. & Mrs. Henry W. Lehrer. I remember many afternoon trips with them to Weier's hunting lodge over at East Harbor just beyond the state park marina. The lodge was right on the northern shore of Middle Harbor and had many windows looking to the south across the water. LeRoy and Laura were very kind to me and always encouraged me to bring fishing equipment when I came with my grandparents. When I was a little older, I got to accompany my father and LeRoy out to the duck blind further out in the harbor. My wife and I visited the property in the 1980s and the lodge was pretty much abandoned and beginning weather. But the view and memories of the time I spent there were as vivid as though they were just yesterday.
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