CAREERS OF THE MAY BROTHERS
Clarence began teaching grade school in Suffield Twp. when he was seventeen. During the summers he attended Ohio Northern University and graduated from Notre Dame with a law degree in 1908. He opened his Akron law office in 1908. He taught at the former Akron Law School (now part of University of Akron). He retired from law practice in 1969. (footnote 10)
Dean attended a business college in 1908 for a year with the intent of preparing for a commercial career. Perhaps influence by his father John, Dean took employment in the "paymaster's" office at Whitman and Barnes plant. Later he became paymaster of the Robison Clay Product Company. He was there for eight years.
In post World War I 1918, as dwellings mushroomed on every Akron street, Dean entered the construction business. He and Clarence headed a firm that built houses in Akron, Cuyahoga Falls and the Ellet district. It was while working in that capacity that Dean was encouraged by Clarence to study law. He had held prospects of a career as a veterinarian but as the “horseless carriage” era was emerging he opted for the law profession.
Dean resigned his work in construction management and began his law studies in his brother Clarence’s office and at Buchtel College (later University of Akron). In June, 1919, in the midst of the great rubber industry boom in Akron, he was admitted to the bar. The preponderance of his career as a practicing attorney was spent in association with Clarence; it subsequently became the firm of May and May.
As an attorney, Dean served as a director or officer of several businesses including the Uniontown Savings and Loan Company, and the Walter Brick and Clay Products Company (its owner, Leo Walter, was married to Dean's oldest sister, Margaret).
Dean and Amelia Stutz were married in 1915.
(For detailed genealogy, and Amelia’s obituary, refer to footnote 11)
In 1918 they purchased Dean’s father John J. May’s residence on Canton Road (now route 91) in East Moreland. This was an unincorporated community north of Greentown and southeast of Akron. Amelia died in 1927.
Dean and Dorothy Cranz were married in 1927 and maintained their residence in East Moreland. (footnote 12)
Notes:
10. Clarence May was a renown defense attorney in Summit County for over 50 years. Following his private practice, he was a member of the former Brouse, McDowell, May, Bierce and Wortman law firm since 1938. His law career began in a county town hall where he watched Akron and Ravenna attorneys argue cases in the justice court in Portage County Suffield Township Hall. His legal specialty was Constitutional Law, and that interest that brought him into a 1958 battle between the Amish and the State of Ohio over education of Amish children. Clarence represented, without pay, the Amish parents who were jailed because they clung to their religious beliefs which did not permit them to send their child to school beyond the eighth grade. On his 23-acre farm in Springfield Twp., Clarence spent his spare time raising evergreen trees. He had species from all over the world. With the outbreak of WWI, he abandoned his law practice to serve the American Expeditionary Force in France. While in Europe he studied at the Inns of Court, the oldest law school in the world. He resumed his Akron law practice in 1920 and formed a partnership with C.G. Roetzel, former summit County prosecutor, Ernest E. Zesiger and his brother Dean. He once summed up his life's philosophy to an Akron Beacon Journal reporter as: "First same enough money to buy yourself a home in the country. Then get married and have your children. Riches are not to be desired. Just save enough to live on comfortably."
11. Dean F.and Amelia T.(Stutz) May Children: 1. John Dean - Born February 17 1917 . Died May 03, 2012 Married Marilyn Resley. Born March 01, 1923. Died Sept. 29, 2015 Children: Christine Anne; John Dean, Jr.; Bruce Joseph; Amelia Ruth; David Resley 2. Francis Bruce -Born June 4, 1919. Died February 19,2004 Married Kathryn Jane Taynor. Born May 18, 1919. Died September 8, 2001.
Obituary: WIFE OF ATTORNEY DIES IN CLEVELAND
Mrs. Amelia May, wife of Dean F. May of the May & May law firm, died Thursday night at a Cleveland hospital following an operation. She was 29 years of age and had been a resident of Akron nearly all of her life. Her home was on Canton Rd. Besides her husband she leaves two sons, Bruce and John D. May and her parents, Mr. and Mrs. J.N. Stutz. Funeral services will be held at the Church of Annunciation at 9 o’clock Monday. Burial will be in Holy Cross.
12. Dean F. and Dorothy Lucille (Cranz) May Children: James Cobry – Born March 04, 1930. Died November 22, 1989 Married Janet Knecht. Born August 07, 1930. Died November 06, 2016 Children: James Colbry; Rebecca Elizabeth Died September 3, 2013; Stephen William; Marybeth Janet; Suzanne Joan; Dean Francis, Jr. – Born December 06, 1931. Died December 18, 2014 Married Kathleen Mary Park. Born September 28, 1939. Children: Dean Francis III; David Park; Daniel Scott; Joelle Marie; Kathleen Mary; Joan Marie – Born March 13, 1933. Married Robert Vernon Maher. Born April 17, 1920. Died November 8, 2016 - Children: Michael Andrew Died December 8, 2005; Joli Dorothy; Leah Marie; Elise Ann; Marie Roberta; Donald Bauer – Born April 01, 1934. Married Elizabeth Ann Meis. Born November 19, 1937Children: Gregory Donald; Lauren Elizabeth; Anne Francine; Douglas Eric; Jennifer Dolores; Michael Cranz – Born September 20, 1935. Died June 16, 2005Married June Eloise Bly. Born May 23, 1938Children: Ellen Elizabeth; Jeffery Michael; Christopher Reid; Joseph Holzworth – Born October 02, 1936. Married Helen Elaine Doinidis. Born September 09, 1936 Children: Nancy Kristina; Joseph Matthew; Matthew John.