Let's continue Women's History Month with women who made a difference in the Romeo area.
Next up is Deborah (Vontz) Hoffman, who filed a sex discrimination complaint with the Civil Rights Commission.
Deborah, seen above, was a diesel truck driver. It was rare for women to drive diesel rigs and trailers then as much as it is now. Regardless, this was always a dream for the petite 5'4" woman, and she wanted to make that happen.
According to a community profile written by News Editor John P. McPartlin for the January 5, 1977 issue of The Romeo Observer, Deborah left school when she was in the ninth grade in East Detroit. She moved to California where a brother was living. When she was 16, a big diesel truck driver pulled along side of her Harley-Davidson 74 motorcycle. He honked his horn, signaled to her to pull over, and asked, "Are you a girl?"
Deborah recalled that she didn't look at him. Instead, she got off her motorcycle and walked around the truck, while he eyed her motorcycle. She inquired, "Man,...would I like to drive that diesel. Will you teach me how?"
That challenge of learning how to drive a truck rig turned into friendship, then a relationship, and later marriage in Las Vegas. She soon learned to drive the diesel truck from her husband Raymond Vontz and took over the wheel when they carted his load through the Mojave Desert. They would move to Washington, MI in 1972
After having children, Deborah wanted to get back to driving diesel trucks. She enrolled in a truck driving school and got her diploma and license. She went to RedWay Cartage company for whom Ray talked them into letting her drive with him, not on payroll, but for a reference on her driving ability.
In 1974, Ray learned of a vacancy at Great Lakes Express, whom he worked for as well. They were looking for driver-brokers - drivers who had their own trucks. Debbie "made a deal with someone wanting to sell a truck which was being leased to Great Lakes, but Great Lakes officials turned down her request for the job."
They claimed that she had inexperience even though they hired men with much less experience. In addition, an official told her, "A woman's place was at home making babies."
If that wasn't enough, she was told that they wouldn't hire her even if she went to the Civil Rights Commission. But, that's what she did. She filed a sex discrimination complaint soon after. During that time, she took a job at WemCo company, where she hauled bulk cement on a seasonal basis. It was a position no man wanted.
The results from the state Civil Rights Commission hearing arrived in the June 8, 1977 Romeo Observer edition. In it, John McPartlin reported that Deborah had won her lawsuit. She was awarded $18,000 ($94,357.72 in today's money), and the commission ordered Great Lakes to offer her a job as a truck driver or driver-broker with senority of 2 1/2 years. By that time, she had been driving diesel trucks for 11 years.
Deborah would later divorce Raymond, remarry, and establish the Women's National Truck Drivers' Organization Inc., with its headquarters in Washington. She wanted to gather together women who really wanted to make truck driving a career like she did all those years ago.
To learn more about Deborah Hoffman, you can contact the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org or call (586) 690-4890.
Images and sources courtesy of the Romeo Community Archives; Melvin E. and Joan D. Bleich Collection, The Romeo Observer, January 5, 1977, p.1-A; June 8, 1977, p.2-A; and January 25, 1984, p.1-B
Correction regarding last week's article, Alice Yeaman bought Perkins Dress Shop from Charlotte Perkins by 1960. Alice ran the store until her retirement in the 1970s. The people that worked for her were Martha Gray, seamstress and salesperson; Louise Sebree; Dorothy Hill; Vernita Slating, and Norm Yeaman, buyer, manager, and Alice's nephew.