Jerry Zitter has gone the distance as the president of her own company and a dynamic leader in Huntington.
By Sara Leuchter Wilkins
HQ 21 | SPRING 1995
Regina K. (Jerry) Zitter still remembers that special necklace she received one Christmas during the Depression. Though Zitter’s father was a modestly successful poultry farmer, a national “Bank Holiday” prevented him from withdrawing any cash that winter — so the children were told to expect no Christmas presents. “I was ecstatic, as you can imagine, to wake up that morning and find the necklace, especially when we were expecting nothing,” Zitter reminisces, a smile lighting up her delicate face.
And although today the vivacious 79-year-old president of Sterling Supply Company can have a houseful of necklaces, she chooses to share her good fortune with the rest of the Huntington community — most notably the students at St. Joseph Central Catholic High School. In the past six years, Zitter has established a number of scholarships there and in 1990, her “kindness, gen-erosity, and selfless dedication to Catholic education” prompted the school to name its newly renovated library in her honor.
Zitter’s philanthropy and business acumen have made her one of Huntington’s most recognized and respected grande dames. But she is also renown for her daily run through Ritter Park — some three miles each weekday, four miles on Saturdays, and six miles on Sundays.
“I run because I feel that I benefit both physically and mentally,” Zitter remarks. “It gives me a better mental attitude and helps me get rid of frustrations.”
Zitter estimates she has been running daily for the last 35 years, and credits her stamina and energy to the sport. Running also keeps her young at heart — after our interview, Zitter drove away in a shiny new black Mustang with a rear spoiler and vanity plates sporting the initials “RKZ.”
“Age is irrelevant,” she muses. “I can’t control my age.”
Zitter was born and raised in Ft. Recovery, Ohio (about 50 miles north of Dayton), where her parents, Anna and Peter Klingshirn, owned a poultry farm and chicken hatchery. After graduating from high school in Ft. Recovery, Zitter moved to Dayton to attend nursing school at the Good Samaritan Hospital. Three years later, she became a registered nurse and remained in Dayton to serve in a number of nursing capacities. In 1936, while still in nursing school, she met John E. Zitter, a Dayton native who was three years her senior. At that time, he was working for the Frigidaire Company inspecting refrigerators. The couple married in 1940 and had three children. Thomas Edward, born in 1943, currently owns a feed mill in Ft. Recovery where he lives with his wife Mary Pat, a lawyer. They have four children. Their second son, William Palmer, was born in 1947 and is an emergency room doctor at Cabell Huntington Hospital. The Zitters’ youngest son, John Timothy, was born in 1958. He is currently vice president of Sterling Supply. John and his wife, Katherine, have a seven-year-old daughter, Jeannie.
The Zitters lived in a number of midwestern cities during the war years, and in 1945 they moved to Huntington so that John could work at the former Houdaille Bumper Plant (which made bumpers for automobiles). John remained with Houdaille until 1952, when he opened a small plating business for household goods. Shortly thereafter, with the help of Andy Houvouras and Leo DiPiero, Zitter opened Sterling Supply Company, which he operated until his death in 1972. The company, which sells industrial supplies, cutting tools and abrasives (such as grinding wheels) is located at 850 Seventh Street West.
Meanwhile, during the early years in Huntington, Jerry was busy raising her family and working as a nurse at the VA Hospital. She retired from nursing in 1963.
Shortly after John Zitter died in 1972, Jerry decided to take over as president of Sterling Supply.
“I wanted to make my life special, to justify my existence,” she says of that decision. “I wanted to ensure that the company would continue to run at the high level it had been achieving.” She admits all she knew about the company was what her husband had told her, but “he talked business morning, noon and night, so I really knew what was going on.”
Zitter says that she faced very little difficulty in being accepted into the Huntington business community because people realized she was filling in for her husband.
“I think many customers knew they were important to us, and they were not going to disrupt any ongoing business relationships.”
In the 24 years that Zitter has run Sterling Supply, the company has experienced tremendous growth, expanding to a staff of 10 full-time employees and one part-time employee. Further, Zitter opened Sterling Industrial Products in Charleston eight years ago, which carries all of the same products as the Huntington business.
Zitter credits the growth of Sterling Supply to James McDermott, who has been the company’s manager since the death of her husband.
“I had the philosophy and he had the business acumen,” she notes. Zitter’s philosophy, learned from her father (who taught her the value of the repeat customer), is that “if people need something, give it to them now.”
Today, Zitter continues to put in an eight-hour day — albeit less hectic than it once was. She goes into the office at 8 a.m., opens mail, and ensures that the trucks are loaded. Then she jogs in the park and returns to the office around noon.
Zitter is currently the only active female member of the national Industrial Distributors Association. The first year she attended the annual convention, she was told no women were allowed. For many years she was made to wear a spouse’s name card.
“Now,” she says, “they all know me and they all love me. If I don’t attend a meeting they all ask about me.”
Throughout the years Zitter has been a leader in many facets of the Huntington community. In 1991, Zitter was named the “Women in Business Advocate of the Year” by the Small Business Administration.
A member of St. Joseph Catholic Church, she has been one of the strongest supporters of both its grade school and high school. To benefit high school students there, she established the Anne Klim Scholarship Fund and the John William Garrett, Jr. Memorial Scholarship Fund.
Financial support from Zitter also enabled the high school’s library to expand from a one-room operation on the third floor to a two-room operation on the main floor, complete with a multi-purpose language center and research area for students and faculty.
Zitter says she can’t really explain the depth of her involvement at St. Joseph’s. “My strings are being pulled,” she remarks.
“By a higher deity?” I ask.
“Yes, I think so,” she responds. “For me, it’s very easy to give. I’m the pass-through vessel. It’s given to me and I funnel it out again.”
Zitter served on the initial board of directors of Birthright (which sup-ports girls and women in crisis pregnancy situations) and now is its president. In addition, Zitter has been a member of the board of directors of the YMCA, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Huntington, the Scott Community Center (where she endowed the Maudella Taylor Foundation), United Way of the River Cities and Junior Achievement.
Currently, Zitter is a member of the John Marshall Society, the Carter Woodson Foundation and serves as vice president of the Foundation for the Tri-State Community.
For Zitter, Huntington will always be home. “I have no desire to live anywhere else,” she says. She has resided at 1638 Washington Boulevard since her youngest son was a baby.
“I think the city is making a comeback,” she says. “People on the outside now believe that our legislators are serious about a more competitive climate for business,” she explains.
Eloquent, insightful, generous and vibrant, Jerry Zitter is a woman to be respected, admired and emulated. She is a true jewel in Huntington’s crown of leaders. And the next time she jogs past you in Ritter Park, be sure to thank her for her commitment to the community — if you can catch her, that is.
