The heart and soul of the early OBC club, Bill Koster has passed away. “The first meeting was June, 1968 at the Barberton YMCA on 2nd Street. Founding members were Bill Krites, Diane Krites, Ralph Bowman, Reid Witman, Peggy Witman, Ralph Bond, Alan Easterday, Frank Salzwimmer, and Bill Koster.” The obituary and link to the funeral home is in the “Read More”. A private service for the family is planned.

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William Koster Obituary

William H. Koster III, 83, of Barberton passed away on May 2, 2024 at Pleasantview Nursing Home following a short period of declining health. He was born on October 27, 1940 in Akron, OH to the late William H. Koster, Jr. and Lillian Fay Whitaker Koster. Bill was a 1958 graduate of Norton High School. He had a passion for historic bottle collecting. He was an original founding member of the Ohio Bottle Club. He was an avid Barberton Magics sports fan. He polished and cleaned the Barberton High School’s trophy cases for 47 years. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his sister, Karen Gross; sister and brother-in-law, Diana & Larry Foster. Those left to cherish his memory are 4 children, 7 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren.

A private service will be held by the family. Those wishing to share a memory or condolence may do so by visiting Adams Mason Funeral Home www.adamsmason.com

As a punk kid, I started attending OBC meetings sometime in 1980. I wasn’t old enough to drive so my two other bottle friends Bill Cole, Rob Hendon and I would ride together to meetings. We would listen to cassette tapes of AC/DC, Joan Jett, Def Leppard, The Scorpions, Rush etc. all the way there and back home. The meetings were packed and bustled with excitement from members of all ages and collecting levels.

Bill Koster was always one of the people who would take the time to talk to me. I was a pseudo-shy, know-nothing, pie-eyed kid that loved old bottles but was in many ways a club outsider – not having any kind of meaningful collection or even any pontiled bottles. Bill repeatedly told me that he was glad to see “young blood” coming along in the hobby and that he was excited for me to learn more, start privy digging, and attending more shows.

There are four surnames that were responsible (for better, or for worse) for me growing in the hobby. Those are Ford, Shutler, Koch, and Koster. I am very thankful to have made soooo many friends in this hobby and I am glad to say that Bill Koster was one of them. – Todd K