SPRINGFIELD — More than half a century ago, Raymond and Jane Strahler started a food wholesaler business out of the family’s home on Lagonda Avenue.

It wasn’t unusual to see a huge vat of pickles soaking the backyard, taking up so much space that Jane Strahler gave up on maintaining a little garden near the garage.

By 1973, Strahler’s Food Inc. had moved to a warehouse on 19 S. Penn St.

Countless memories and 37 years later, Strahler’s has closed its doors forever, going out of business earlier this month when rising costs and competition ate into profits.

The business just never recovered from a downturn that really got bad three years ago, said Doug Strahler, 57, Raymond and Jane Strahler’s son.

Strahler’s has had hundreds of clients not only in Springfield — including supplying vendors at the annual Clark County Fair — but throughout Ohio, Michigan and Indiana.

Annual sales peaked at about $3 million. The business has never had more than 12 employees, but has employed hundreds of college students part-time throughout the years. No one was laid off from Strahler’s until about two years ago, 52 years into the business, Jane Strahler, 84, said.

Her husband Raymond Strahler died in 1990. Their son used the business not only to keep busy but as a way to feel close to his dad.

“When my dad died, we were moving trucks that morning,” Doug Strahler said as he broke down and cried. “The next day, I was back at work. This business closing is, to me, like the funeral all over again.”

Four generations of Strahlers ultimately worked the business.

“My family from my grandfather down devoted their entire lives to this business.,” said Michelle Tittle, Doug Strahler’s 33-year-old daughter who met her husband in the warehouse. “This is all we know.”

The building will be up for auction soon; the food stacked up to the ceiling has been cleared out and the small-town business that the family said would have done anything for its customers will be no more.

“Over the years, we’ve had a lot of customers,” Doug Strahler said. “It was a joy to be in the business.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0374 or boutten@coxohio.com.