New Construction Brings Back Old Memories

Judy Doby ’65, remembers growing up in north Findlay in close proximity to uncles, aunts and grandparents.  She also remembers sharing her home with University of Findlay students.
“For as long as I could remember, my mother rented bedrooms to two students from the University of Findlay. There were no dorms on campus in the 1950s, and lots of people earned a little extra income renting rooms to the college kids.”
Doby, two grandchildren, and daughter Kerry Teeple, toured the residence at 316 College Street in February. The home will be razed to make room for the new Center for Student Life and College of Business. Although sentimental, Doby is proud of UF for creating a “21^st century” space for classrooms and student networking.
“You always want what’s better for the next generation,” she said. “There’s the AMU, but students need more space to work and interact.”
A conversation with Doby reveals an intricate web of ties to both the University of Findlay and the Findlay-Hancock County community. Aside from living near campus, both Doby and her brother Jerry Stevenson, MD ’59, are UF graduates.
Majoring in medical technology, Doby transferred to Findlay from Anderson College in 1963. She married Lewis “Bud” Doby ’65, now deceased.
Stevenson completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology and chemistry and intended to become a high school science teacher. Instead, he was drafted into the U.S. Army Medical Corp in 1952 where he worked as a technician with a pathologist. Stevenson earned his medical degree at The Ohio State University when he was discharged, and worked at St. John’s Hospital, Anderson, Indiana and also served as the chair of the Biology Department at Anderson University. Now 84, he has fond memories of “Doc” Phillips, his biology instructor at the University of Findlay.
“Doc Phillips was THE biology department at Findlay College during my time there,” Stevenson recalled. “This led me to establish the Stevenson/Phillips scholarship and endowment in the name of my family.”
Keeping Family Close By 
“We moved to the College Street house just before I turned one year old, and I lived there until I was 21,” Doby recalled. “My parents often thought of moving, but they felt if they held out long enough, the University would buy the house. Well, they finally did sell in 1966 and the university eventually did buy the house several years later.”
She remembers that her uncle’s house stood on the property that is now the Brewer Center for Health Sciences. Findlay’s Howard Elementary School was located directly across the street on the property that has been transformed into a student parking lot. Her grandmother and two other uncles had homes on West Foulke Street near the Cosiano Health Center.

“The campus was always part of our lives,” she added, noting that she held her wedding reception in the University’s Gold Room. She also recalled that The Cave was located in the basement of Old Main and was a popular hangout for her and her brother.
Although just a child, she remembered walking to campus for a few years in the 1950s to attend the “Little May Day Festival.” True to tradition, the event was complete with women students dancing around a Maypole, weaving ribbons into complicated patterns.
Like her brother, Doby spent her career in the medical field, working for Findlay’s Blanchard Valley Hospital, Findlay Lab Services and some area physicians.
“I used to do lab work for Dr. August “Gus” Mazza,” she stated. Ironically, Teeple is now deputy director of the Mazza Museum, named in honor of the late physician.
Doby now spends her days as a “lunch lady” at Liberty Benton Elementary School in Hancock County. She admits she has close ties to Findlay and the University. It looks like those ties have been handed down to the next generation as well.
“My two other daughters, Karmen Lauth and Lindsay Norman, have lived all over the world and now they have both come home to live in Findlay. It’s great that we’re all so close,” Doby said.

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