BUTLER TWP., Montgomery County — Sheila Petry, who with her sister has taken over ownership of the Buckhorn Tavern on Meeker Road in Butler Twp., was hoping not to have to answer any questions about how she’s doing these days.
Petry, her sister and the rest of the family is still grieving the loss of Bob and Debbie Vanderhule, who both died in November.
>> Owners of beloved Butler Twp. restaurant die weeks apart
“Still a lot of processing,” Petry told News Center 7′s Malik Patterson on Thursday. “I was hoping you didn’t ask that question.”
Tavern owners Robert and Deborah Vanderhule died within days of each other. He was 80. She was 78.
“It went from a lot of helping with the parents, burial, to immediately having to still do what I have to do for here,” Petry said.
Days now are spent remembering how Mr. and Mrs. Vanderhule transformed the tavern into a restaurant from the biker bar it once was.
“We opened up on Thanksgiving Day and I was bussing. I was bussing tables on Thanksgiving Day,” Petry said.
Bonnie Bauman, Petry’s sibling and the tavern’s other owner, said, “We wanted people to know this place was here to stay. We wanted our employees know they had a safe place to be.”
The community’s warmth has kept the sisters going through very tough times.
>> Hours for area warming shelters announced ahead of cold snap headed for Miami Valley
“The comments that have come in, those have been very healing to me,” Bauman said. “Those have meant the world to me, to see how much everybody loved them.”
Petry and Bauman said they have plans to bring back some of the special events that were held at the tavern before covid. They also plan to return some popular items, such as the blueberry ribs, to the menu as well.
©2024 Cox Media Group
