By Karen Andrew
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Koehler

READING - Mary Frances Koehler was something of a pioneer in the realm of cooking. She was one of the first people in the Cincinnati area to cook with a home microwave oven.

Mrs. Koehler died Dec. 14 of heart failure at Jewish Hospital. The Reading resident was 86.

Featured in a 1969 Enquirer article, "Sunday Dinners Every Day With Electronics," Mrs. Koehler received her microwave oven, then known as an "electronic range," for Christmas. She wanted the oven after seeing one demonstrated at a home show.

One of her sons felt that the money should have been spent on a new car while the other wanted a pool table. But the boys soon benefited from Mrs. Koehler's gift.

The working mother was quoted as saying she could prepare "a Sunday dinner every weeknight for my family. And I don't have to cook in a hot kitchen any more. Can you imagine?"

She was born in Richmond, Va., in 1916, where she attended business school. She met her husband, Karl, a soldier, at a dance sponsored by Richmond-area churches. The couple married in 1942 before Mr. Koehler shipped out to Europe during World War II.

After the war, Mr. Koehler brought his wife back to his hometown of Reading to work in the family's business, Koehler's Hardware, at Benson and Church streets, with his brother.

Mrs. Koehler worked as a secretary at a number of businesses and in the 1970s was hired as an administrative assistant at Children's Hospital Medical Center. Due to failing eyesight, she retired in 1981.

A son, Bruce Koehler of Reading, said his mother "took deep satisfaction from her work with doctors and hospital administrators and bequeathed her body to the University of Cincinnati's College of Medicine."

In 1961-62, she served as president of the Reading Hilltop Elementary School PTA and in the mid-1960s was the founding president of the Reading Junior Woman's Club. As a member of that club, she helped organize community art shows and a youth activity center in her husband's former hardware store building.

In addition to her son, survivors include her husband, Karl, two other sons, Lee of Silverton and Glen of Orono, Maine; seven grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be 2 p.m. Feb. 16 at St. John United Church of Christ in Reading.

Memorials: The American Heart Association, 2936 Vernon Place, Cincinnati 45219-2433; or St. John United Church of Christ, Jefferson and Cooper avenues, Reading 45215.

E-mail kandrew@enquirer.com