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Gary McMahon
KAREN LAUBER (nee WHITE)
1950-2021
Karen Lauber, whose finesse with customers, clients, and colleagues won her respect as she became a leader in banking and real estate, died May 29 in Hospice of Northwest Ohio, Perrysburg Township. She was 70. She had cancer, her husband, James Lauber, said. Mrs. Lauber was president in 2001 of the Toledo Board of Realtors. She was the board's Realtor of the Year for 2000, in recognition of her work as a volunteer officer of the organization. She served on the Ohio Association of Realtors' executive committee and was a former trustee of the National Association of Realtors. "She just really was a wonderful leader," said Paula Hiett, former chief executive of the Toledo Board of Realtors, who became a close friend. "She was direct and spoke her mind, but did it in a diplomatic kind of way. She sought out everyone's opinion and did her homework on whatever the issue was." Mrs. Lauber in the late 1980s came to real estate sales from banking "to do something different and new," her husband said. She sold houses and through the years was affiliated with DiSalle Real Estate; Welles Bowen Realtors; Lance Tyo & Associates, and Sulphur Springs Realty. Al Hotchkiss, a former board of realtors president, said: "That's why she was so good. She was compassionate." Mrs. Lauber and her husband retired in 2013 to Angola, Ind. They later returned to Sylvania Township, after which she became a property manager for Mr. Hotchkiss' company, Noral Property Management. She oversaw rentals and management of condominiums. She also fielded calls for repairs and put the appropriate subcontractor on the case. "She was a lifesaver. She did everything for me," Mr. Hotchkiss said. "Everybody felt like they were her friend." Mrs. Lauber was born Oct. 26, 1950, to Bernadine and Clifford White and grew up on Elmhurst Road in West Toledo. She was a graduate of Start High School in 1968 and attended Davis Business College, as it was then known. After work at a finance company, she was hired by the former Ohio Citizens Bank to be a receptionist. Mrs. Lauber became a teller and, in 1982, was named manager of the Holland branch. She later managed branches at Miracle Mile and Saxon Square shopping centers. She became an Ohio Citizens assistant vice president. "She was very customer-service oriented, and the bank took notice of that and started moving her along in the branch system," her husband said. Surviving are her husband, James, whom she married Nov. 5, 1981; daughter, Kelly Kubiak; stepdaughters, Lisa Jorgensen and Amy Gorman, and five grandsons.
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