Elizabeth Parker Memorial

Hi, my name is Meredith Engel, and I’m starting a fundraiser to build a memorial for the strongest woman I never met: my great-grandmother, Elizabeth Kuemmel Parker.

I am the daughter of Christie Ontko and Eric Engel, and granddaughter of Linda Parker and Charlie (Tuna) Ontko. I grew up hearing a scattering of stories about Parker Boat Line that once operated out of the downtown dock where the Jet Express now runs. My curiosity for these stories grew when I became the first woman to work aboard the Miller Boat Line ferries. I heard stories of my family’s boat line from the captains at Miller’s. Bob Stausmire of Middle Bass shared stories of my great-grandmother and told me once, “The boat line could never have run without Elizabeth.” I had no idea. It was the first time I learned about who she was and what she had done. I thought, if Elizabeth’s own great-granddaughter didn’t know her story, how could anyone else? So, I set out on a journey to tell it: to honor my great-grandma Elizabeth with a lamppost on the dock where she worked, and a plaque that tells passers-by who she was, what she did, and why she matters.

Elizabeth Kuemmel was the first student from Middle Bass to complete a year at Put-in-Bay School and graduated in 1931 with a class size of five. As many may know, Elizabeth married South Bass Islander, Alfred Parker, and together they ran the Parker Boat Line. Elizabeth ran the office and marina docks, doing all the book and record keeping, managed the freight and vehicle reservations, and made countless calls on the phone and transmissions over the radiotelephone. She also worked on the docks in a very physical capacity; Elizabeth loaded freight, gassed boats, caught lines for the incoming ferries and seasonal boaters. Elizabeth’s devotion to Parker Boat Line is admirable by any modern business owner’s standards. Staying late at the office and into the night was her norm. So much so, she kept a cot for sleeping overnight when the work piled too high to leave. A testament to these late nights, I grew up hearing a unique boating navigation cue. When the fall comes and the buoys are removed from the harbor, boaters have to know when to turn the channel corner by Gibraltar Island. In the days of Parker Boat Line, boaters looked for “the light of Elizabeth’s office,” for knowing when to make the turn. Where the “light of Elizabeth’s office” once was, the Jet Express Dock now exists. Today, the old adage is still passed down to generations who never actually saw this light - passed down to young boaters like me.

My great-grandmother died long before I was born. Elizabeth (Kuemmel) Parker passed in September of 1976. Her husband, my great-grandfather Alfred, lived until 1986. Following his death, a park was dedicated in his name on the West Shore. Today, there is no testament to my great-grandmother on the island. We have the power to change that. It’s important to me that a memorial to Elizabeth be built and placed in plain sight. Her story deserves to be told. I fear that if there is no memorial to her life and the contributions she made to our island community, she will be forgotten.

I believe in the importance of promoting all the amazing things that women have accomplished and that it’s time for the women in history to be properly recognized. When I was the only woman working on the Miller Ferry, not a single day passed without someone telling me how inspired they were seeing a female deckhand. It was an amazing feeling, to make a difference. I can only hope a memorial to Elizabeth, another woman who worked in the maritime industry, would have a similar impact.

The funds from this fundraiser will be used to build a memorial dedicated to Elizabeth Parker near the Jet Express Dock on Put-in-Bay, which includes a lamppost and bronze plaque and all of the associated electrical and construction costs. The memorial is expected to be completed in 2024 with the help of the Blumensaadt and Duggan families so that "the light of Elizabeth's office" may shine on forever. My wish is that we not only raise money for a memorial, but that we bring back old memories of my great-grandmother and all who dedicated their time to Parker Boat Line and the Great Lakes maritime industry.

If you’re still curious about the project, or prefer to donate via paper check, please contact myself, my father Eric Engel, or my grandmother Linda Parker. Paper checks can be made payable to "Memorial Fund for Elizabeth Parker" and mailed to P.O. Box 335, Put-in-Bay, OH 43456.