Venus Shakarian Toner

Venus Shakarian Toner
Venus Shakarian, from the 1928 yearbook of the University of Pittsburgh
Born
Venus Shakarian

(1906-12-19)December 19, 1906
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedMarch 6, 1995(1995-03-06) (aged 88)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Other namesVee Toner, Vee Shakarian
OccupationsPilot, educator, sports official and umpire
RelativesDavid Shakarian (brother)

Venus Shakarian Toner (December 19, 1906 – March 6, 1995) was an American pilot, educator, and sportswoman from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She was the first American woman to be named a chair umpire at Wimbledon. She was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1982.

Early life and education

Shakarian was born in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh, the daughter of Hogop "Harry" David Shakarian and Dorothy Peshdimaljian Shakarian. Her parents were Armenian immigrants from Istanbul. Her father ran a sandwich and yogurt shop, which her younger brothers Bart and David Shakarian took over in the 1930s, and built into the General Nutrition Center chain of stores.[1]

She attended Peabody High School[2] and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1928.[3][4] At Pitt, she competed in basketball, tennis, and swimming,[2] and was president of the Women's Athletic Association on campus.[5] She was national president of Cwens, an honor society for college sophomores, in 1925.[6] She pursued further studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Oxford.[7]

Career

The undefeated 1924-25 Pitt women's varsity basketball team; Venus Shakarian is on the right, seated in the center row.

Shakarian taught physical education[2] and was a licensed pilot in the 1930s.[3][8] She was an active member of the Ninety-Nines, an organization for women in aviation,[9] and spoke on radio about her experiences with flight.[10] She participated in air races.[11]

Shakarian remained active in amateur and school sports after college.[12][13] She competed in a tennis tournament in 1929.[14] She was an official at the 1955 and 1959 Pan-American Games, in Mexico City and Chicago, respectively. She was a member of the United States Olympic Committee in 1956, when she managed the women's swimming team in Melbourne,[7][15] and in 1960.[16][17] She managed and chaperoned the American swimmers at the International Swimming Festival in Bremen in 1975.[18]

Shakarian also supported professional sports. She was an official at international tennis tournaments, and was the first American woman named chair umpire at Wimbledon.[18][19] She frequently attended college and professional football games.[20] "I attend every Steelers game," she told an interviewer in 1977.[17] She stopped officiating at professional tennis tournaments in 1979, citing the coarser language and behavior of the players.[21]

She was Delta Zeta’s Woman of the Year in 1969,[16] and the sorority started the Vee Shakarian Toner Student Loan Fund in 1973, in her honor. In1982 she was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame; she was also in the University of Pittsburgh Sports Hall of Fame and the Western Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.[18]

Personal life

In addition to her professional activities, Shakarian was known to be an expert knitter.[22] She was seriously injured in a car accident in 1935.[23][24] In 1937, she married civil engineer and businessman Arthur Carling Toner Jr.[3][25] Her husband died in 1972 and she died in 1995, at the age of 88, in Pittsburgh.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "Founder of Food Chain Dies". The New York Times. 1984-09-13. pp. D22. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-07-26.
  2. 1 2 3 Ryall, Kay (1933-06-29). "Girl Tennis Star Takes to the Air; Miss Venus Shakarian Contends That It's Great Sport". The Pittsburgh Press. p. 20. Retrieved 2026-07-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 3 "Aviatrix to Become Bride of Non-Flying Engineer". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 1937-09-18. p. 1. Retrieved 2026-07-26 – via Newspapers.om.
  4. ↑ The University of Pittsburgh, The Owl (1928 yearbook): 71.
  5. 1 2 Perlmutter, Ellen M. (1995-03-08). "Vee S. Toner, 86, 1st regional woman in stage sports hall". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 32. Retrieved 2026-07-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Omicron Claims First President of 'Cwens'" The Lamp of Delta Zeta (): 462-463.
  7. 1 2 Jordan, Jimmy (1956-10-13). "Tireless Vee Toner to Take Off Tomorrow for Olympic Games". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 10. Retrieved 2026-07-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "School Teacher Passes Test for Pilot's License". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 1934-09-29. p. 5. Retrieved 2026-07-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Venus Shakarian Flies to Attend Meet". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. 1937-05-08. p. 4. Retrieved 2026-07-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Flying School Marm Morning Air Guest". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. 1936-05-01. p. 22. Retrieved 2026-07-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ Bent, James R. (1935-09-01). "Our Ladybird Flies to Air Races; Pittsburgh Girl Attends Show". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. p. 3. Retrieved 2026-07-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Shoe Fund Aid from Flying Teacher". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. 1936-11-15. p. 12. Retrieved 2026-07-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ Sullivan, Paul G. (1952-07-20). "Guiding Spirit in Amateur Sports". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. p. 59. Retrieved 2026-07-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "Novice Net Tourney is Approaching End". The Pittsburgh Press. 1929-08-18. p. 30. Retrieved 2026-07-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ Jordan, Jimmy (1956-12-24). "Russians Down, Ga. Tech to Go, Says Busy Traveler Vee Toner". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 15. Retrieved 2026-07-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. 1 2 "Vee Shakarian Toner" Delta Zeta Museum.
  17. 1 2 Sedor, Mary (1977-08-05). "Vee Toner Has Seen the World; Her Heart's Never Far from Home". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 10. Retrieved 2026-07-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. 1 2 3 "Vee S. Toner to be inducted in Pa. Hall of Fame Oct. 30". Standard-Speaker. 1982-09-24. p. 24. Retrieved 2026-07-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ Anderson, Shelly (1987-07-18). "Vee Toner has no plans to take time out from sports". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 8. Retrieved 2026-07-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ Smith, Chester L. (1958-11-05). "Umbrellas at Grid Games Bring Blast from Vee Toner". The Pittsburgh Press. p. 52. Retrieved 2026-07-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ↑ McHugh, Roy (1981-09-06). "Her Set Calls 'Foul' on Today's Tennis Aces". The Pittsburgh Press. p. 2. Retrieved 2026-07-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ↑ Vance, Virginia (1937-02-23). "Flying School Teacher Takes Time Out to Knit Sweater for Charity". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. p. 22. Retrieved 2026-07-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ↑ "Flier Wins; Priest Must Pay in Auto Crash". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. 1937-06-12. p. 3. Retrieved 2026-07-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ↑ "Flying Schoolmarm; Eager to Soar after Auto Crash". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. 1935-10-06. p. 8. Retrieved 2026-07-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ↑ "Venus Shakarian Marries". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. 1937-09-24. p. 23. Retrieved 2026-07-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  • Fran Becque, "Vee Shakarian Toner, Delta Zeta" Fraternity History & More (March 20, 2023), a blog post about Toner, by a scholar of American college Greek organizations
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