Albert (Jim) Hart - Class of 1938
September 22, 2008
Albert (Jim) Hart - Albert (Jim) Hart started working at
Hart’s Corner Drug Store as a boy. Every morning before school he
walked there from the Decatur Street house where he was born,
accompanied by his dog Rowdy, to fire up the furnace with coal. He
attended State Street School and graduated with the class of 1938
from South Street School.
Jim attended Sunday school at the Congregational Church as a boy
and is still an active member of the church. In 1942, he graduated
from the University of Michigan’s College of Pharmacy, and returned
to the drug store. Jim was drafted in July of 1944 to serve our
country as a pharmacist mate in the Navy in World War II. His aunt
Alice ran the drug store, with the help of retired pharmacist Jim
Stone of Toledo. He was sent to boot camp in New York, Hospital
Corps School in San Diego, and then on to a Jacksonville, Florida,
naval station to a “dirty surgery” unit, which treated wounds
soldiers sustained during the War. Extra duty unloading caskets
from a train resulted in a trip to the infirmary, where the Navy
discovered he had a bum arm (broken horseback riding as a boy) and
gave him an honorable early discharge, $100, and an airline ticket
home to Vermilion.
On November 15, 1947, Jim married Dorothy Wood (VHS Class of 1937), and they moved into their house on Ohio Street, where they raised Peter, Marcia, Jim, and Joan. All of the Harts worked at the drug store, but only Albert worked almost every day. He walked home for lunch, except during the blizzard of 1978, when he and Joan took lunches that Dorothy had packed and trudged through knee-deep snow to keep the store open during its usual hours in case someone needed a prescription. Every day, he or Joe Hohman tended the flag in Rubberneck Park across from the store, raising it in the morning and lowering it in the evening. Many years later he would receive recognition from the state of Ohio for this community service. Jim retired and sold the business to Higgins in November of 1985. Over the years many classes of South Street Elementary School students have walked downtown to his drug store for ice cream cones. Approximately 200 Vermilion High School students have worked summers or after school at his store. Mr. Hart will be escorted this evening by Senior Class Representatives Chelsea Burrow and Bryan Buckosh.
