Bobbie Ditzler, of Northport, recently celebrated her 80th birthday on Jan. 11. Shortly after reaching this milestone, Ditzler sat down with the newspaper to recount some of her knowledge about local history and her experiences watching her home village develop.
Ditzler is something of the local historian in Northport. She says that she was naturally interested in history from a young age, and in her great great-grandfather, Joseph Dame. Although he was not a minister, Dame was nicknamed “Deacon” for his piety, Ditzler explained.
The Dame family emigrated from England in the 17th century, but Joseph “Deacon” was the first Dame to live in Michigan. In fact, he gave the village of Northport its name — borrowing it from the small town of Northport on the Penobscot Bay in Maine, where Dame lived for some time — and drew the original plat for the village with his son Eusebius.
According to Ditzler, the most important piece of local history that she uncovered was a letter from Dame in the New York Tribune in 1854 describing the conditions of present-day Leelanau County. Ditzler said that she was aware of the letter’s existence from secondary sources for some time, but finally rediscovered the document at the Grand Rapids Library in 2020.
Dame’s letter describes “Leelanaw” and Grand Traverse counties as “better adapted to farming purposes than any place I have lived at or seen” and he found that “all kinds of produce flourished beyond all expectations.” This letter, the Ditzlers say, was widely read in the Tribune and helped influence families to move from the east coast to Northport and northern Michigan.
“I almost hollered when I found it, but I knew I was in the library,” Ditzler said about finding the letter on microfiche. “I was so excited to find that letter that Deacon had sent to the New York Tribune about Northport.”
The Dame family remained in the Leelanau Peninsula operating a family store in Northport. Bobbie was the youngest of four sisters, and although she moved out of state after graduating from Northport Public Schools in 1962, she eventually returned to the “Dame family cottage” on a lakefront property overlooking Northport Bay.
“We were not required, but we knew that we needed to pitch in (at the family store),” Ditzler recalls. “But my folks also thought it was important to work for somebody else, too. My one sister worked across the street at the cotton shop, which is now (Sally’s) sewing supplies, and I worked across the street there too. My oldest sister worked at Northport Point at the post office.”
Although she went to school in Northport, Ditzler recalls spending much time with the players and cheerleaders for the Lake Leelanau St. Mary basketball team, which was coached by her father. She was also active in childcare, babysitting, and her local church.
Ditzler attended the private university Philadelphia College of Bible, now Cairn University, where she met her husband, Frank. The couple have stayed together for 52 years and lived in Pennsylvania, Iowa, and Oregon before returning to Michigan.
Although Bobbie and Frank Ditzler are both now retired, they continue to make and sell foods and butter made from local ingredients at the Northport Farmers Market every Friday morning from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 105 S. Bay St.
