Wadia Mary Bassett was born in Damascus im 1888 and died in Oak Harbor, Ohio, in 1988 at the age of 100. She was married to Nahmy Bassett and was the mother of Abe N. (1907), Mary Lillian (1918), Katherine Anna (1921), and Evelyn Miriam (1923).

‘Woman of the Century’
Oak Harbor resident, 88
Ray Sperber, County Editor

She has never been named Woman of the Year, but to her family and her countless friends, Mrs. Mary Bassett, 122 N. Locust St., Oak Harbor, is Woman of the Century.

Eighty-eight years young, Mrs. Bassett still keeps her home immaculate, does her own cooking and baking, and still finds time to crochet and do other handwork. Arthritis has forced her to give up knitting, and may have slowed her steps, but she’s as charming as ever.

Woman of the Century? Who else has these qualifications:

1. She was so determined to come to America that she saved the pennies and nickels she had made doing needlework in her home country of Damascus, Syria, and paid for her own boat passage across the Atlantic.
2. She raised five children of her own, plus two older children of her husband and his first wife.
3. She worked 64 years in the Bassett grocery stores, often from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m., taking time out to rush upstairs to prepare meals, get the children ready for school, do the housework and to sew much of their clothing.
4. As she could not speak a word of English when she arrived in Oak Harbor as a bride, on Dec. 6, 1914, her husband, the late Nahmy Bassett, made her work beside him in the grocery store and there she slowly and painfully picked up her knowledge of English.
5. She has made 75 Afghans, those colorful and cozy blankets or shawls which add beauty to the home, including one made as a gift to Rosemary (Mrs. Danny) Thomas. She complains that arthritis now slows her down so much that it takes three weeks to complete an Afghan, where formerly she could do that intricate work in two weeks.
6. She is a Modern Mom, who loves to fly, and has made numerous airplane flights to Las Vegas to visit her daughters, Mary and Evelyn, and their families. On her last visit there, Mrs. Bassett became ill and had to stay 10 months. Now she’s content to stay in her own home and brave our winters.
7. She believes that a family should entertain in the home and when her children were in high school, she insisted that they take their boyfriends and girlfriends to entertain them in the Bassett home while she and her husband worked in the store.

While the Mary Bassett story began in Damascus, locally her saga began in 1913 when she arrived in Toledo as a homesick immigrant girl. She stayed with a Syrian family there and worked in a fur factory to pay her own way.

After their marriage, newlyweds Mr. and Mrs. Bassett, along with Abe and Elsie, returned to Oak Harbor and reopened the Bassett store. They sold candles and fruits at first, but when State Route 2 came through Oak Harbor, a complete grocery and meat store was developed. The Bassett family lived in quarters above the store until 1925 when they moved into the house Mrs. Bassett presently occupies. 

When Nahmy Bassett died in January 1930, his widow and son, Abe, took over the operation of the store and built the large store at 136-38 W. Water St., where Bassetts continued until the building was sold in 1963 to the late Nick Stevens. The present Bassett IGA Market had its grand opening in August 1964 in its location further west on Water Street.

Elsie (Mrs. Stanley Shamro) now lives in Detroit, and Joe now lives with his mother in her Oak Harbor home. Mary (Mrs. Donald Ferry) and Evelyn (Mrs. Mitch DeWood) both reside in Las Vegas. Kathryn (Mrs. Nicholas Vara) lives in Sandusky and Richard lives in Oak Harbor. Mrs. Bassett has fourteen grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. 

A year ago, she was thrilled to have as guests her nephew and his wife from Damascus, and their son, who now lives in Canada. It was the first time she had seen her nephew.

She also recalls when the Oak Harbor Armory was built in 1918, soldiers came from Camp Perry and bands played in the building.

Mrs. Bassett, who sews without a pattern, also opened a dressmaker business in her home after her husband died and made most of the clothing for her children. She had started doing the needlework as a 6-year-old child in Damascus. No English was taught in Syrian schools, but she had to take Russian language lessons. She spent most of her time in school, perfecting her artistry with embroidery, knitting and crocheting.

It takes 12 skeins of yarn to complete one of her 5 ½ by 8 ½ feet Afghans, and Mrs. Bassett recently completed her 75th for a grandson. She made a special Afghan for Rosemary Thomas after she and Danny had served as godparents for Michael, son of Evelyn and Mitch DeWood.

When Oak Harbor Fair was held in the Oak Harbor Town Hall, Mrs. Bassett won numerous blue ribbons with her needlecraft. She is especially proud of a crocheted bedspread she made years ago. It usually was displayed in a prominent position on the Town Hall walls during the fair.

Oak Harbor was a “horse and buggy” town when the Bassetts first arrived, and sleighs were the mode of transportation during the winter. She and her family often would ride the interurban to and from Toledo. 

Former Oak Harbor constable Frank Palmer, the grandfather of the National Bank of Oak Harbor’s Tom Palmer, had a livery stable where today Vern Miller’s Chevrolet-Olds is located. The Palmers lived across the street in the building now housing James Hetrick’s Insurance firm.

Mrs. Bassett remembers that her uncle came from Canada to visit, that he rented a car from Frank Palmer (the first in Oak Harbor) and took the entire Bassett family on a ride to the beaches along the lake and to tour Camp Perry.
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Mary Bassett isn’t only the matriarch of the Bassett family; she is an institution in herself. She is truly the Woman of the Century.