Howard W. Pears
Hon. Howard W. Pears, president of the Lima Business College and a member of the State Legislature, is among the most prominent and influential citizens of the county. He is a native of the Buckeye State, having been born in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, in 1868. At the age of 12 years Mr. Pears started to fight his own battles, which he has continued to do in order to achieve whatever he has accomplished in the fields of education, business and politics. He was educated at Willoughby, Lake County, and engaged in teaching in that county for several terms. In 1890 Mr. Pears went to Colorado and, desiring to equip himself for a business career, completed a course in the business college in Colorado Springs, and for one year held a position as private secretary to the president of the Rio Grande Hotel Company. He then established a general reporting until the spring of 1893. The experience gained during the three years he was thus employed proved invaluable to him in the later years.
Returning to Ohio, he located in Lima and purchased to Lima Business College in 1893. At that time its pupils numbered about 40, and Professor Pears at once set about improving the school by establishing a practical system of training that would enable the student who had finished a course in his institution to at once take charge of the work for which he had studied. A high grade of work was required from the pupil, and no pains were spared to make the training as thorough and practical as though obtained in actual business, and the result soon began to be manifest in the facility with which the students of the Lima Business College obtained desirable situations. Not only was there a constant demand for them, but it soon became apparent that they were generally satisfactory to their employers, and these combined circumstances resulted in an increased attendance at the school. One year after taking charge, Professor Pears found it necessary to engage an assistant in the work, which was growing to such proportions that he could not do it the justice he wished, and I. F. Clem became a partner and is now secretary of the institution. In 1896 the college was incorporated, with a capital stock of $5,000, and has steadily grown until it now has an annual enrollment of 300 pupils, and ranks second to none in Ohio.
In 1899 Professor Pears was united in marriage to Anna Schnabel, a daughter of Charles Schnabel, of Lima, and a lady of many pleasing and gracious qualities. They are members of the Disciples' Church and take a prominent part in the social life of the city. The Professor has been a lifelong Democrat, and has always taken an active part in the advancement of that cause. That he is popular among his colleagues is shown by the fact that he was nominated for the Legislature over two of the older politicians at the county primary election held August 14, 1905, and in the fall election received next to the highest number of votes of any candidate.