The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-11-30
Only Woman State Treasurer Says
She Learned Business by Being Wife
Mrs. Grace UrbahnS Has
Won Distinction by Work
in Public Office.
BY GLADYS CRAIG

The only woman Treasurer Of
State in the United StateS That is
the record of Mrs. Grace Urbahns.
What preparation did she have
for the unusual position that she
holds? Well, she was first wife
and mother, according to Mrs, Ur-
bahns, that is preparation enough to
fit any woman for business.
"I learned management by run
ming my house, planning meals, and
living on budget" said Mrs. Ur-
bahns. "As a housewife, I learned
to make use OF everything that I
had"
Former School Teacher
Prior to her marriage, Mrs. Ur-
bahns was school teacher in Mon
tana. Then she was married in her
home town of Valparaiso, to Ben
Urbahns. Two children, Bruce and
Dorothea, were born to them, for
ten years, they were all the bust
ness experience Mrs. Urbahns had.
After UrbahnS was made Treasurer
of State, Mrs. Urbahns assisted him
in the office occasionally, but other
than this she had no business ex-
perience outside of her own home.
Then came the terrible catastro-
phe that made Mrs. UrbahnS pio-
neer woman. One night her hus-
band went to the hospital for an OPP
Grafton. He did not recover. The
very next morning the papers car
ried the announcement that the
Governor had appointed Mrs. Ur-
bahns to finish out his term Of one
year.
1.-The appointment was a great
blessing at the time" said Mrs. Ur-
bahns. "It kept my mind off OF
my trouble, and had to arise to the
occasion. I had a general idea Of
what the work was like and did not
find it hard to learn The place
calls for a strict accounting of funds,
but this was easy, for mathematics
was my pet study in school. I was
always the first one through in
class"
Calls 1t Thrilling
After Mrs. Urbahns served her
husbands unfinished term, she ran
for reelection and was the unan-
imouS choice of the convention.
During this period she became &C
quainted with quite another phase
of political life. She made speeches
in nearly every county in the State.
AS a result she got a majority Of
more than $4,000 votes. In her home
county of Porter, about 5000 votes
were cast, Of which she got more
than 5000. She led her opponent
in his own county.
ut was all very thrilling" de-
clared Mrs. Urbalns. 'It was q
revelation to see what an interest
women took when they found out
that one of their sex was on the
ticket. We were received most gra-
ciously everywhere and entertained
with teas and bsnquets.
1.-THE men couldn't have been finer
and showed great interest in wom-
an candidate for office. In FIT.
Wayne, we were met.with woman's
band. 1t was the first time in his
tory that women had held their own
meetings"
Mrs. Urbahns says that she has
enjoyed her experience in the bust
ness world.
when you work in the home, you
work by yourself" she said. "Busi-
ness is much more fascinating be-
cause Of the contacts that you make.
I feel that business develops wom-
an and makes her more interesting.
Still a Mother
Mother takes care of the chill
dren, but we go out together often,
and do not feel that I have been
any less the mother since I started
to work. My children are proud of
my position and realize that I am
taking 'Daddie's place One day
Dorothea came in and said, Mother,
the kids say that you are a great
woman and will be written up in
history"
If this is true, Mrs. Urbahns feels
that it is because she first learned
the business of being a wife and
mother.
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