…an Army Air Forces rest facility in England during World War II. It was at the headquarters of the U.S. Eighth Army Air Force that she met Lt. Royal Firman Jr. They married in 1944. In addition to being a fine horsewoman and running a farm in Kirtland, Ohio, Firman devoted her energies to community service. She sat on the boards of the Cleveland chapter of the Red Cross, Planned Parenthood and Central School of Practical Nursing, and served as…

Before the United States entered World War I, John Closey Virden Jr. (1897–1981), then a student at University School, attempted to join the French air corps. His desire to serve would have to wait until May 1917, a month after the U.S. declared war on Germany, when Cleveland’s volunteer Lakeside Hospital Unit was the first to arrive in France. He was attached to the French army for training, winning his pilot’s wings, then…

…hairman of the East Ohio Gas Company from 1966 to 1974. Born in Stahlstown, Pennsylvania, he graduated from Auburn University in 1943 with a degree in mechanical engineering. After serving in the Pacific with the Navy during World War II, he returned to Auburn as a member of the engineering faculty. His career in the gas industry began in 1949 when he joined the Gas Light Company in Columbus, Georgia, as an industrial engineer; in 1957, he…

…northeast Ohio and in 1945 was appointed operating VP. In 1950, he moved to Detroit to head Michigan Bell, returning to Cleveland two years later to serve as president of Ohio Bell. Before his retirement in 1958, Greene was trustee of a dozen community service groups and in 1942 had been voted Cleveland’s “First Citizen” for his work as president of the Welfare Federation. After retiring, he continued his philanthropic efforts,…

…the military during World War I. He worked in the legal department of the Cleveland Automobile Club before joining the firm of Calfee, Fogg & White as a partner in 1927. For many years he was a member of the probate and trust committee of the Ohio State Bar Association, and in 1949–50 served as president of the Cleveland Bar Association. He was a director of Union Savings & Loan, vice president of the Family Service Association of…

…ident. He was the bank’s president before coming to Cleveland in 1973 to assume the post of president and chief executive of Cleveland Trust. The following year he became chairman and CEO of the bank’s holding company, CleveTrust Corporation, which later adopted the name Ameritrust. He was named chairman of the bank in 1978. Weir served as a trustee of John Carroll University and on the advisory board of Notre Dame College. He was a board member…

…er of the executive committee of the National Association of Manufacturers and serves as trustee and chairman of the board of University Hospitals of Cleveland, advisory chairman of the board of the Cleveland Museum of Art, trustee of the Musical Arts Association and trustee emeritus of Case Western Reserve University. In addition to his past service as board chair of the Cleveland Foundation, Rankin is a former member of the boards of trustees…

Alex Machaskee is the retired publisher, president and CEO of the Plain Dealer, Ohio’s largest newspaper. Before being named publisher in 1990, he served in a variety of roles at the PD: vice president and general manager, director of labor relations and personnel, assistant to the publisher and promotion director. Born in Warren, Ohio, Machaskee worked as a sports reporter and general assignment reporter for the Warren Tribune before joining…

…eland, where he began serving in 1975. In 2009, President Barack Obama appointed him to a newly established 25-member White House Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. He also serves on the board of trustees at Morehouse College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1956. He holds an M.Div. degree from the Morehouse School of Religion/Interdenominational Theological Center and a D.Min. from the United Theological…

…cturer of machine tools and home appliances. In 1985, Sales and Marketing Executives of Cleveland named him Business Executive of the Year. Born in Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland, Holdt served with the U.S. Army in Europe during World War II and was awarded the Croix de Guerre with Bronze Star from the French government. After graduating from Dyke College in Cleveland, he went to work for Apex Electrical Manufacturing, which was acquired by White…