Rose Papier

Rose Locumovitz[1] was born on November 29, 1912 in St. Marys, Ohio[2] to Harry and Maisha Locumovitz, who had immigrated to the country from Russia. Soon thereafter, they shortened the surname to Locum and moved to Wapakoneta, Ohio. They were Jewish and her father peddled goods from a pushcart to support his eight children. After graduating from high school Locum worked as a model for fur coats in Cleveland. While modeling, she met Bill Papier through her sister Lena and they married soon after. One of his conditions of marrying was that Locum obtain a college education. She enrolled in Ohio State University,[1] earning a BS in 1940 and master's degree in Social Administration in 1943.[2] While raising her family, Papier did volunteer work with the Columbus Council of Jewish Women and Hadassah, as well as the Columbus Symphony Orchestra and the League of Women Voters.[1]

When her children were grown, Papier went to work for the Ohio State Department of Mental Health and Retardation[1] serving as research director. In 1960, she authored and edited the Ohio Senior Citizens and the following year served as Ohio's delegate to the White House Conference on Aging.[3] By 1962, she was serving as the State Secretary of Ohio's Commission on Aging and organizing volunteers to make nursing home visits to elder citizens.[4] She organized the first five Governor's Conferences on Aging and coordinated Golden Age Villages, in Columbus and Toledo, facilitating the planning, construction and services[3] as a consultant to the Department of Mental Hygiene and Correction. The villages provided low-rent housing and services for elderly Ohioans and mentally disabled persons to help them sustain independent living. The range of services included meals, recreational and educational programs, as well as health, medical and social services.[5]

In 1965, Ohio created the Ohio Administration on Aging and selected Papier to head the new agency.[6] In 1971, Papier became secretary of the National Association of State Agencies on Aging[7] and that same year she served as co-chair of the Ohio delegation for the White House Conference on Aging.[8] Throughout the 1970s, she traveled the state and was a featured speaker at many organizations and conferences dealing with elders.[9][10][11][12]

In 1978, Papier was inducted into the Ohio Department of Aging Hall of Fame[13] as well as was one of the inaugural women inducted that year into the newly created Ohio Women's Hall of Fame.[14]

Papier died on August 9, 2000, in Columbus, Ohio.[15]