Karl Summer - 1999
MHS 1927 Graduate
Karl Summer, Sr., Class of 1927, was nominated by Dr. S. L. Weir and Marilyn Bartley. Summer was a person who helped many people, both financially and spiritually. After high school graduation, he furthered his education at McKinley High School machine shop classes and attended Akron University, taking courses in plant and employee management. Later he was awarded an honorary degree in tool engineering.
In 1930 Summer worked the entire year at Liberty Bell Manufacturing for nothing but the experience. In 1958 he was able to purchase the Liberty Bell building.
During World War II, Summer was called to Washington, D. C., and worked at the Navy yard where he was involved in making torpedo tubes. After three and a half years in Washington, he was called home to set up the tool shop at the E. W. Bliss Co. in Canton to make more equipment for the U. S. Navy.
In 1937 Summer became a member of the Minerva Masonic Tubal Lodge. He also belonged to the Scottish Rite in Canton and the Tadmor Temple Shrine in Akron.
The Classic Travelers Club was an important part of his life. Along with his family, he made several trips across the United States in his 1913 Overland. They made the trip from Seattle to Philadelphia in the 1908 EMF.
Summer was a member of the Bayard Methodist Church and served on the finance committee, was a trustee, and as a member of the building and improvement committee.
It was well known that if you needed money, Summer would give it to you, but in return, you were required to give something. This he called, "good faith." Karl Summer, Jr. tells how his father would go to someone whose house had burned and give that person the money in his wallet. That was during the Great Depression when not many people, including his father, had much.
Summer co-founded Monarch Products Company with Glenn Lautzenheiser. This company made precision tolerance parts which were made for the automotive industry, and Superior Tool Company which was the die plant.
An exchange student from Norway, Borge "Bud" Yetterstad, became part of the Karl Summer extended family. The Summer family attended Bud's wedding in Norway, and Bud came back to Minerva twice.
In her nomination Bartley states, "Karl took his influence in the manufacturing and tool and die business into the community. From the beginnings in a backyard garage in Bayard to three companies employing local people, Karl has make an impact on the economy of the community With the three corporations operating today and his guidance to those he helped with his Christian conduct and belief, he has made the Minerva area a better place for us to live today.