Louise Levi Obletz, owned antique shops

Obletz

Louise Levi Obletz, 86, a former Clarence and Snyder resident who was a former antique shop owner in both towns, died Wednesday, May 23, 2007, at Canterbury Woods in Williamsville.

Born in Buffalo, she attended Buffalo Seminary and graduated from the Park School of Buffalo in 1939 and Stephens College of Missouri. She stayed active with the alumni associations of each school.

Mrs. Obletz was an enthusiastic and knowledgeable collector of Quimper and Staffordshire china and figurines and owned antique shops in Snyder and Clarence for over 30 years, including Blue Eagle Antiques on Bernhardt Drive in Snyder and Antiques and Found Objects in Snyder Square.

She was a long-time lover of early American antiques and country pine furniture and was an expert in American primitives. She also was an antique consultant and active in antique co-ops in Clarence.

As a hobby, her family said, she renovated homes in Williamsville and Snyder for over 30 years then sold them furnished.

For six years, she made her home at Canterbury Woods, celebrating her 85th birthday in 2006. Her family said she characteristically insisted it was her "39th birthday".

Mrs. Obletz, known by her 13 grandchildren as "Weezie", is also survived by three sons, Stephen of Buffalo, Thomas of San Rafael, Calif. and Douglas of Portland, Ore., and a daughter, Betsy Jones of Portland, Maine.

A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, June 16 in the Chapel at Forest Lawn Cemetery, 1411 Delaware Ave., Buffalo, followed at 11:30 a.m. with a reception at the Saturn Club, 977 Delaware Ave.

Donations may be made in her memory to the Louise Obletz Memorial Fund at The Park School of Buffalo, 4625 Harlem Road, Buffalo, NY 14226.

Arrangements were made by the Mesnekoff Funeral Home.