For more than 50 years, Joann King has made it her mission to preserve and share the history of Medina County. As she explained, “You don’t know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been. The history of Medina is a story that is evolving step by step.”
She credits her fifth-grade teacher with igniting her love of history. After realizing Joann’s interest in young-reader biography books, the teacher asked the local librarian to loan her history books from the adult section. King went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in history from Denison University.
While at Denison, Joann met her husband of 62 years, Peter. In 1973, they moved from Akron to Medina with their three young children. Having grown up in the small Northwest Ohio village of Paulding, she appreciated the advantages of living in a small town. They purchased what was known as the Rosco Ewing home, which came with its own history…