By Darlene Bowers
As a child Pat Parteleno wanted to be a cowboy and could often be found in western boots even in mid-summer. After high school Pat began studying business with a sports-related job in mind, but an extern student at her father’s pharmacy convinced Pat to follow in her father’s footsteps and come to ONU to study pharmacy.
It may have been inevitable. Pat’s parents, Joseph and Eleanor, met in that pharmacy, married, brought up seven children in their Catholic home under rules of self-reliance, independence, strong values and the importance of hard work.
“Remember, you are a reflection of us,” Pat remembers her dad saying. The name of his pharmacy was Bittner’s Pharmacy located in Struthers, Ohio, and her dad’s moniker, ‘your home town druggist.’
“My dad was beloved and revered by so many,” says Pat, who treasures numerous memories and keepsakes from the pharmacy’s heyday. Bittner’s opened in 1926. Pat’s father began working there in 1953 and owned the pharmacy from 1962 into the 1990s.
One treasured keepsake is a notebook filled with handwritten recipes and concoctions made to order for customers including things such as a gun bluing formula and a jewelry cleaning recipe.
Another treasure trove, found in an attic with a note on top stating, “this may be a craft Pat could do” is drawer after drawer of pharmaceutical labels for items such as neat’s foot oil, oil of clove, saltpeter, feosol tablets, glycerin and bay rum and more.
Each label is a testament to the beauty and artistry of typography, line placement and spacing of that era. Each is also a reminder for Pat of placing herself in her father’s footsteps.
Pat completed her pharmacy degree, but Bittner’s was being sold at about the same time as her graduation, so Pat decided to stay in Ada where she currently lives.
Pat works for ONU in the “perpetual process of pharmacy student placement.” Outside of work, Pat is formulating that treasure trove of labels into a hobby and into artwork. After composing and placing a group of labels, Pat decoupages them onto tiles preferring smooth light-colored tiles so each label continues to look like a picture frame itself.
Pat made several tile compositions for children and coworkers incorporating maps and vintage book pages. She is currently working on tiles that feature the Bittner’s label and specially selected pharmaceutical labels for her siblings.
Working with the pharmaceutical labels “lets me get back to my pharmacy brain” says Pat. Pat explains dealing with that part of pharmacy is not in her daily work regimen, so maybe the labels and tiles fill that gap and fill time too.
A little bit of cowboy remains in Pat, she still loves sports, and clearly her devotion to pharmacy is evident. However, ask Pat Parteleno what she would be or do if she could pick anything and she will say, “professional gambler.”
It is a good bet you’ll find Pat’s tile work at the Artist’s Boutique on Main in Ada.
