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Submitted: 8/4/09 • Approved: 8/5/09 • Last Updated: 8/13/15 • R104702-G0-S3
He is the son of Dr. John W. Reading and Jane C. Webster. His brother was William W. Reading. He was born on September 08, 1866 in York, Union, Ohio and died April 19, 1959 in Toldeo, Ohio. He married Blanche E. Watts. They had 6 children. HE WAS A RETIRED METHODIST MINISTER, AND A FOUR-TERM MEMBER OF THE OHIO LEGISLATURE. OF THE 45 YEARS HE WAS IN THE MINISTRY, HE SERVED IN TOLEDO FOR 25 YEARS. HE WENT TO TOLEDO IN 1905 TO BROADWAY METHODIST CHURCH. THEN HE WAS PASTOR OF THE EUCLID COLLINGWOOD AND WESTERN METHODIST CHURCHES. HE ALSO SERVED IN BOWLING GREEN AND LIMA. FOR SIX YEARS HE WAS SUPERINTENDENT OF THE DELAWARE DISTRICT OF THE METHODIST CHURCH. HE WAS NAMED PASTOR EMERITUS OF COLLINGWOOD CHURCH WHEN HE RETIRED IN 1948. AFTER HE RETIRED FROM THE MINISTRY, HE HAD AN ACTIVE CAREER IN PUBLIC LIFE AND THAT PROMOTED HIM, AT THE AGE OF 90, TO WRITE A BOOK, " DEMOCRACY CAN SUCCEED - HOW? ". IT WAS IN 1939 HE WAS ELECTED TO A TWO-YEAR TERM IN THE ASSEMBLY ON THE LUCAS COUNTY REPUBLICAN TICKET. HE WAS REELECTED FOR THREE MORE TERMS.
DR. READING WAS A NATIVE OF UNION COUNTY, OHIO, AND HE WAS ORDAINED AS A METHODIST EPISCOPAL MINISTER IN 1899 WHEN HE WAS GRADUATED FROM OHIO WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY. HE ASSUMED A PASTOR-ATE THAT YEAR IN RAWSON, OHIO, AND SERVED A CHURCH IN McCOMB, OHIO, BEFORE HE CAME TO TOLEDO, OHIO. A HIGH POINT IN THE LIFE OF DR. READING WAS THE FOUNDING OF THE TOLEDO GOODWILL INDUSTRIES IN 1933. HE WAS ONE OF THE THREE ORIGINAL INCORPORATORS. HE HELD NUMEROUS POSTIONS WITH THE ORGANIZATION. He died at the age of 92 yrs old.
Contributed on 8/4/09 by janeanes1971
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Record #: 104702