Mabel Irene Mathias

Mable Irene Mathias (1917 - 1986)

Birth, Parents & Siblings

Mable was born on February 3, 1917, in Hocking County, Ohio. Her father, Walter, was 24 years old and her mother, May Greenwood Kane, was 20 years old at the time.

According to granddaughter, Debby Durant Riordan, cited from 11/12/2025, “She was the oldest of 11 kids (7 boys and 4 girls). I think this is where Dylan got his height from.”

Mable’s sisters included Mrs. Chester (Donna Jean) Webb of Thurston, Mrs. Jim (Virginia) Landis of Lancaster, Mrs. Frederick (Helen) Landis of Baltimore and her brothers included Harold, John, Jimmie, Paul, Richard, Loren, Ronald and step-brother, Donald Mathias, of Texas.

Growing up

In 1917, at less than one year old, she is listed at 70 Holder Rd NE in Baltimore, Ohio in the City Directory.

In the 1920 Census, when she was three years old, she is listed in Good Hope, Hocking Ohio. Her father, Walter, is listed as a Bridge Carpenter while he rented a house.

In the 1930 Census, she is listed in Liberty, Fairfield, Ohio, living on a farm. The Census indicated that she did attend school and could read and write and had no occupation since she was approximately 13 years old at that time. Walter was listed as working as a Foreman at a paper mill at that time.

She later attended Liberty Union High School in Baltimore, Ohio.

Marriage

Mable married Loren Durant on August 21st, 1937, in Lancaster, Fairfield County, Ohio at 4pm and the service was conducted by A.C. Young at his home. She was 20 years old when she married.

They had three children together. Charles Richard Durant (1938-2021), Ralph Durant (1941 – August 15, 1986, in LA County, California) and Donna Durant Keeran (1944 - Still Living in Phoenix, Arizona).

Adulthood

In 1936, she is listed as a “Clerk” in the Lancaster, Ohio City Directory at 511 N Broad Street when she was 19 years old.

In the 1940 Census, she is listed in Etna, Licking, Ohio in an owned home that is not a farm. Loren is listed as Manager for a filling station.

In 1940, on Loren’s draft card, they are listed as living in Etna, Ohio at “Box 73” with no telephone. He is listed as 25 years old with employment at Homer N. Gittins, located at RFD 3 in Pataskala, Ohio.

In addition, she was a member of the Ladies Auxiliary of Etna Lions Club.

Memories from Debby Durant Riordan from 11/12/2025:

“As kids, we visited her house for dinner often. I always remember her cooking, in big batches. We went over for holidays a lot, there was a kids’ table in another room.”

Debby started working at the Dairy Queen Brazier when she was 16 years old in Reynoldsburg. Mable had been working at Dairy Queen for a “long time” by that point and had recently transferred to the store Debby was working in to help start it up as it was a new location. Mable typically worked day shifts, and Debby would come in later in the day and the owner “Owen “Buck” Adams” would often tell them “Debby needs to get to work!” because they would be chatting away. She sold her own recipe Shredded Chicken Sandwiches from the DQ, which Debby describes as “Amazing, delicious, and creamy”. Whenever Debby went over to Mable’s house, there was a freezer full of DQ ice cream bars “Dilly Bars etc.”.

She had a large house with a beautiful staircase. Debby always said she wanted to get married coming down the stairs, but her younger sister, Kelly ended up doing it before Debby had a chance to.

She liked to jar and pickle and often had a lot of jars and cans in the house. Debby says she made the “Best Bread and Butter Pickles”.

“I remember one time Grandpa Loren came by our house (as he often did) and the phone rang. It was Grandma (Mable) asking him to head home because she had made No Roll Cabbage Roll Casserole. This was Grandpa's least favorite meal, so he sighed and complained and headed home. He hated it, but he always ate it.”

When asked to describe her: Your typical Grandma, Larger, Big hugs, “No funny business”, People loved her big personality which offset Grandpa Loren’s quiet demeanor.

They lived next door to Debby when she was born/early childhood and had a mean rooster that wouldn’t allow Debby out of the house one day. She had to call next door and have someone from her house come and help. On the other side lived the Porter Boys. One day one of the Porters (Jerry) was chasing Debby with a water hose and she ran her left arm through a glass door. She had to get stitches at the local doctor’s office and Mable was there to handle everything (You can still visibly see Debby's scars as an adult).

When asked if she remembers them being religious: “Nope”

“Grandma Durant is the one who did the beeted eggs that I always want to make!”

“I was on my way to work at the Dairy Queen, and it was rush hour in Reynoldsburg. I turned left onto a road, and a child on a bike came through the traffic on the other side and right in front of my car. I slammed on the brakes, but my car tapped the child, who fell off their bike. An ambulance arrived, and they put me in it! The child walked away with their parents without saying anything to me. I called Grandma at the Dairy Queen, and she came to the scene. She then came home with me to tell Mom what happened!”

“She also made all of our Etna Eagle cheerleading uniforms… sewed them herself! I think it was when I was in 7th grade that she made the cheerleading outfits.”

Death

Mable died on March 29, 1986, in Lancaster, Ohio, at the age of 69. She was living at 70 Holder Road in Baltimore, Ohio.

Debby Durant Riordan, “I remember visiting her in the hospital and she was sitting upright and seemed okay. I was living in California when she passed away from something with her heart.”

She is buried at Union Evangelical Graveyard in Baltimore, Ohio, Fairfield County, along with other Mathias family members and her husband, Loren, who survive her by 12 years.

Riordan-Durant Family Tree

Connecting Generations, Sharing Stories

Mable Irene Mathias (1917 - 1986)

Capturing Memories: An Ancestral Photo Album

Riordan-Durant Family Tree

Connecting Generations, Sharing Stories

Mable Irene Mathias (1917 - 1986)

Capturing Memories: An Ancestral Photo Album

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