By Compatriot George Stewart, Chapter Historian

Mr. Earl E. Ertel was one of the leading young business men of Clermont County, Ohio, who attained more than local prominence in both commercial and political circles. He was a man of versatile talent, whose business activity and energy combined with great intellectual ability, was the salient features of his successful career. Mr. Ertel was a member of the mercantile firm of Flinn & Ertel, of Loveland, Ohio, this association having existed for many years. He was also connected with the Reading Iron Company, of Reading, Pa., as a salesman, with offices in the Pickering Building, in Cincinnati. Mr. Ertel , in addition to his many other business interests, did some journalistic work for the local papers and for the “Commercial Tribune.” He was a native of Clermont county, his birth having occurred in Loveland, Ohio, June 13, 1883, and was the son of Benjamin F. and Erma (Prather) Ertel. Mr. Earl Ertel was a descendant of German ancestors, his paternal great-great-grandfather, who was a noted physician, was born in Germany, and came to America when a young man, locating in Pennsylvania. On June 21, 1911 he was united in marriage to Miss Mabel B. Blair of Madisonville, Ohio. She was the daughter of William H. Blair, former Hamilton County Commissioner. Mr. Ertel, as an intelligent citizen, always took an active interest in politics, giving his support to the Democratic party. In 1913 he was elected to the office of State Representative in the Ohio General Assembly. Fraternally, Mr. Ertel was a member of Masonic order of Loveland and the Modern Woodsmen of America. He was also a member of the Loveland Board of Education, and took an active interest in school affairs. He was a regular attendant of the Methodist church and gave liberally to the support of that denomination. He became a member of the Sons of the American Revolution in 1930 and was elected the Cincinnati Chapter President in 1936. His application indicates he had no children. Mr. Ertel passed away due to a heart attack in 1937. He had a younger sister, Alma M. (Ertel) Walker. She married Dr. O.D Walker and the had one child, Maxine. When Maxine Walker passed away in 1984, her will had a specific bequest that directed $12,500 be given to the Cincinnati Chapter SAR in memory of Earl E. Ertel. Due to complexities in settling the estate, the Cincinnati Chapter did not receive the money until May 1986. Jesse Andrews, then the Chapter’s Finance Committee Chairman, worked with Nolan Carson (lawyer, past president and soon to be President General) and thought it best to allow the Finance Committee to make decisions on how the fund would be used. They also decided that “only the interest/dividends generated from the invested principle be used for worthy purposes.” The management of the fund has changed over the years but eventually became codified in the Chapter’s Constitution and By-Laws.

Sources: History of Clermont and Brown Counties, Ohio Volume ll 1913, and credit go to Col. (Ret) Don McGraw Jr. for his research and guidance.