160. Sylvester "Jack"⁴ LENHART (Agnes A.³ WAGNER, Mary² SHINDLER, Anna Marie Catherine¹ KUNESH, Sebastian KUNES^A, Vaclav KUNES^B) (#1497) was born in Defiance Co.,, OH. 28 MAR 1918. Sylvester died 23 JAN 2004 in Defiance Co., OH., at age 85.

He married Evelyn G. TOMECEK 28 JUN 1941 in Defiance Co., OH..⁽²⁸⁾ (Evelyn G. TOMECEK is #1975.) Evelyn was born 13 DEC 1915 in Bryan, Williams Co., OH. Evelyn was the daughter of Joseph TOMECEK and Elizabeth KOZUPLIK. Evelyn died 5 JAN 2002 in Defiance Co., OH., at age 86. She died in her Home.

Her body was interred 8 JAN 2002. Defiance Co. farmer was a commissioner

DEFIANCE - Sylvester "Jack" Lenhart, a former Defiance County commissioner and longtime farmer, died Friday in his home. He was 85.

Family members said he suffered from heart problems and other ailments.

Mr. Lenhart was born in rural Defiance County, growing up on a farm where is father grew tobacco. After leaving school, he hauled coal for a while, then turned to farming full time.

He began raising a dairy herd, then broadened his operation to grow grain and raise livestock, including pigs, white-face Herefords, and black angus cattle. With the help of hired hands, Mr. Lenhart’s operation at one time extended over 5,000 acres, Kristine Karr, his daughter, said.

"My father never did anything on a small scale," she said. For example, his pigs were raised at three sites.

"He was still helping some of the guys combine when he was 80," Ms. Karr said. A few years ago, he planted nine acres of red oak trees on family-owned land along the Maumee River that has been placed in trust.

"The thing about my dad I remember is he always tried to leave a place a little better than he found it," his daughter said. He also kept a large flower garden that included dahlias and roses.

According to his daughter, Mr. Lenhart served two terms as Defiance County commissioner in the 1970s, pledging to improve the county’s roads and bridges.

In his 70s, Mr. Lenhart learned to play the organ, taking lessons to sharpen his musicianship.

He was a member of St. Michael Catholic Church. He was a former member of the Defiance Farm Bureau executive committee, former supervisor of the Washington Township Soil and Water Conservation District, former member of the Ayersville Fire Department, former member of the Defiance County Democratic central committee, and former member of the executive council of the Maumee Valley Resource Conservation, Development and Planning Organization.

His wife, the former Evelyn Tomecek, whom he married in 1941, died in 2002.

Surviving are his sons, Joseph and Gerald; daughter, Kristine Karr; sister, Anna Osborn; nine grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.

Services will be at 11 a.m. today in St. Michael Church. Arrangements are by the Mast-Mock-Hoffman Funeral Home.

The family suggests tributes to the church, the Ayersville Fire Department, or the Ayersville Educational Foundation.

Sylvester "Jack" LENHART and Evelyn G. TOMECEK had the following children:

+ 442 i. Joseph⁵ LENHART (still alive).

+ 443 ii. Gerald "Gerry" LENHART (still alive).

444 iii. Kristine LENHART (#1979) (still alive).

445 iv. Mary Ann LENHART (#5222).

+ 446 v. James LENHART was born 20 AUG 1943.

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