Henrietta Looman died February 9, 2014, at the age of 97. She was born Henrietta Hansen in Jamestown New York, January 21, 1917. One of the first children in upper New York State to be born in a hospital, she and her mother returned home from the hospital in a horse-drawn sleigh. The family moved to Canton in 1919. Henrietta graduated from Canton's only high school, McKinley High School, in 1935. Shortly after, she married the love of her life, C. Richard Looman. A strong proponent of life-long learning, Henrietta continued throughout her life to take courses at Kent State University. By 1957, Henrietta's work for the Stark County Lung Association, known then as the Stark County Tuberculosis and Health Association, as well as her active membership in the League of Women Voters, Sorosis, Lehman Band Parents, and the First Baptist Church had made her one of the Canton Repository's "People You Should Know." In 1959, then Governor Michael Disalle appointed Henrietta to the newly formed Ohio Civil Rights Commission, which was responsible for administering Ohio's civil rights laws. Ohio's civil rights legislation preceded most states and much of the federal government's legislation, and during Henrietta's tenure, the Ohio civil rights Commission decided a number of landmark cases. Henrietta went on to become Chair of the Ohio Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, where she served for 20 years. Henrietta Looman was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Canton Public Library on February 17, 1959. She was the first and only woman on the Board 1973. Henrietta retired on April 22, 1991, after 32 years of service. During her tenure, she was President, Vice-President, and Secretary several times. She served as the Library's representative to the Mid-Eastern Ohio Library Organization. Her service saw the establishment of the Hartville Branch, the Perry Heights Brand, the building of the North Branch, the development of the Sandy Valley Branch and the Dehoff Branch, and the building of the new main Library, which broke ground in several senses in 1978 as one of the nation's first solar buildings. During her service as a Trustee, the Canton Public Library became the Stark County Library District. During the 1960's through the 1980's, Henrietta also served as a member of the Canton YWCA Board, as Chair of the Board of the Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health organization, and Chair of the Canton Council of Churches. She was also a member of the Board of Trustees of the First Baptist Church of Canton Ohio, the Board of Trustees of the American Baptist Churches of Ohio, and the Board of Trustee of American Baptist Churches USA. She died in comfort and with great dignity thanks to the loving care of the Canton Regency, her many friends, and Harbor Lights Hospice. She was predeceased by her husband Richard and her daughter Sue, and is survived by her sister Carolyn Eckenrode, sons David and John Looman, her granddaughter Jessica Looman, two great-grandchildren, Jack and Joshua Lonstein and foster son, Ralph Graner. She was a wonderful mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and aunt, great aunt, and advisor and mother hen to dozens of people who all loved her dearly and will miss her deeply. Funeral service will be Wednesday 1 PM in the Spiker-Foster-Shriver Funeral Home 710 Tuscarawas St West, Canton. Friends may call on Tuesday from 4 to 6 PM. Interment will be in Forest Hill Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, friends may make donations to the Stark County District Library (SCDL) Foundation, 715 Market Ave, Canton, Ohio 44702, www.starklibrary.org/libraryfoundation. Please sign the guest book.