Ruth Nayor recalls living next to H.W. and Olga Berky
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Ruth Naylor recalls living on Spring Street - In the late Sixties my husband, Stan, was invited to return and work for the college.
We were living in Ft. Wayne at the time, but he had always been partial to and supportive of his alma mater. Our two children, Kim and Jeff, were now in elementary school, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to finish work for a bachelor’s degree without losing any of the credit I’d accumulated there years earlier.
Housing in Bluffton was incredibly tight. There was nothing to buy or rent. It took a whole semester before we could find a place to live, but finally the little white bungalow on the Spring Street edge of campus became available and we were blessed to rent it.
Retired Professor H. W. Berky and his wife, Olga, were living next door in the lovely house that the professor and his son had built of stone from the Bluffton quarry. (It’s known as the Houshower House today.) H. W. and Olga were delightful neighbors.
One day, Olga told us that she had been baking and asked Kim and Jeff if they liked squash pie. They turned up their noses at the idea of squash pie; so, she waited until the next day to bring over what she called a pumpkin pie and the children loved it.
This is a sample of the content of "Bluffton Anthology - A creek runs through it." Copies are now available for $24.95 plus tax in Bluffton at:
• Roots by Strattons
• The Food Store
• The Black Lab
• Bluffton Senior Citizens Center
• The Dough Hook
• Polished
Stories Posted This Week
Saturday, October 17, 2026
Friday, October 16, 2026
- Production offers a modern take on the story of St. Clare of Assisi
- Bluffton volleyball edged in 5 by Van Buren
- Pirate girls soccer tie O-G
- October 16 Bluffton Schools athletics lineup, streaming
- Bluffton Council recap: Officers honored for 25 years of service
- Bluffton Clean Up teams up with Troop 3256 Cub Scouts
- Ada FFA: Feeding the Farmers
- Nov. 7 Fall Community Day at Bluffton University
- Quarry Farm Nature Preserve news for Fall 2026
Thursday, October 15, 2026
- DeWine announces $200M Rural Health Transformation program award
- Herb program with Marge Lafollette, Oct. 15
- Prairie seeding activity at Bluffton University, October 24
- Food for thought: Choline for the brain
- Results for 5K on October 2, Bluffton University Homecoming event
- 15 minutes with Sherry Miller, senior center activities coordinator
Wednesday, October 14, 2026
- Ada Icon headlines, October 14
- CANCELLED Main St. closure on October 15
- Frederick Clyde Warren founded True-2-Form Plastics
- Pirate boys soccer beats Wapak in regular season finale
- Pirate girls soccer defeats Liberty Center
- Mennonite pastor to explore ‘good news’ in creation
- Bluffton University earns recognition in U.S. News & World Report rankings
- Obituary for Deborah "Debbie" Welch, 74
- Spirits and exorcism presentation during University Spiritual Life Week Forum
- Dodging bullets: Bluffton oral history 90+ years after Dillinger robbery
- Nora Matthews named BHS Student of the Month for September 2026
- ICAPP analysis on charter status and local autonomy
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
- Ada Icon headlines, October 13
- Bluffton area Women in Business meeting October 15
- Leo club glasses collection
- Night at the (Swiss Historical) Museum, October 24
- Woodcarving ornament workshop at Swiss Heritage Center
- Barefoot nature walks at the Nature Preserve
- Pirate volleyball seeded 4th
- Beavers sports roundup, October 6-11
- Bluffton leaf pickup scheduled for last week of October
- Pirate boys soccer shuts out Bellefontaine
- Watch an after school movie at the Bluffton Public Library