Deal’s History


Deal’s Landscape Service, Inc.
3454 Dayton-Xenia Road
Beavercreek, Ohio 45432
(937) 426-2118
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On October 13, 1905, a baby was born in Massillon, Ohio. He was named Barton Moore. Barton grew up in Massillon and worked in the area steel mills as a teenager. He learned to roller-skate as a young man and participated in many roller derby races. In the late 1920's, Barton left his home in Massillon, supporting himself by skating and performing with various circuses as a tightrope walker and clown. Around this same time period he also changed his name from Barton Moore to Robert George Deal, perhaps because of family problems. His new name was possibly borrowed from a friend.

Barton, now Bob Deal, was passing through the Dayton area looking for work with the ultimate goal of attending a roller derby contest in Milwaukee. He met Samuel Zehrung and consequently applied for a job at Sam’s business, San Rae Gardens in West Carrollton. Sam hired Bob and that was the start of a lifelong friendship. Bob worked for Sam for eight years just before and during the Great Depression. While he was single, he lived in a small apartment on the grounds of San Rae Gardens. That was also where we met his future wife. Anna "Faith" Young was a youthful teacher leading her class on a picnic tour of San Rae Gardens when she met Bob Deal. They were married on August 11, 1934.

As a young couple, Bob and Faith owned a home off Linden Avenue in east Dayton. In the mid to late 1930's they started a small card and gift shop on Salem Avenue in Dayton.

In 1938, Faith and Bob purchased property on Dayton-Xenia Road where the current business is located. The house, which still stands today, was, at that time, about 100 years old and in poor condition. Faith refused to move into the house until they had added a bathroom! On January 20, 1940, they made their final move to Dayton-Xenia Road with their two year old son and six month old daughter. On January 31, 1940, they were granted a Vendor's License for their new flower shop and landscape business. That original license hangs in our landscape barn office today. Their youngest son was born in 1942. The three children grew up on the property. At the same time, Beavercreek was expanding and the business was growing.

In 1969, the youngest son, John, took over management of the landscape portion of the business. He is still the president of the company. Bob and Faith continued running the flower shop into their eighties. Bob passed away in April, 1989, and Faith passed away in March, 1999.

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On January 31, 1940, Bob and Faith Deal were granted a Vendor's License for their new flower shop and landscape business.

The original license is on display in our Barn.

Celebration of Life
Sunday, November 19, 2023

⤵️ Watch John's Service of Remembrance

John L. Deal

John Leonard Deal age 80, passed away at Soin Medical Center on November 04, 2023. He was born in Dayton, Ohio on November 17, 1942 to parents Robert G. and Anna Faith (Young) Deal who preceded him in death.

He is survived by his children; John Robert (Kate) Deal, Dawn (Doug) Swaninger; grandchildren, Alexander (Kiley Herrera) Deal, Aniliese Deal and Ashleigh Deal; great grandchildren, Lilah Deal and Atlas Deal; brother D. Robert (Janet) Deal; sister Martha “Bess” (John) Place; Cheryl Malott, his partner in life for the last 40 years, and cousins, nieces, nephews, business associates, and many friends.

John devoted his life to service of his community in many ways; he was a volunteer firefighter for 20 years ending up as a lieutenant. After leaving firefighting, John started his career as a Beavercreek Township trustee and served for another 20 years.

John maintained a strong landscape business devoted to great customer service from 1969 until his death. The business was started by his parents in 1940 and continues to this day.

John overcame many obstacles in his life and was able to help others through their struggles.

He always relied on the unconditional love from his cats and took great comfort from cuddling with one or another throughout his slower days.

John cared deeply about his faith and the people in his church.

And last, John was an advocate of making your voice heard through your vote. He asked for help to vote early a week before his death and at the same time made sure a first time young voter was registered and voted with him.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Sunday, November 19, 2023 from 2:00 – 5:00 PM at Beaver United Church of Christ, 1960 Dayton Xenia Road, Beavercreek, Ohio 45434.

In Lieu of Flowers, contributions in John’s name may be made to Beaver UCC, John’s cats care, contact 937-426-2118, until further information is available, or a charity of your choice.

Deal’s Barn

The barn houses our offices, a small showroom and store, and a conference area. The barn was originally built in the 1850s on the Miller family farm on Hanes Road in Beavercreek. The family story that has been passed down says that the construction started before the Civil War and was finished sometime after. In 1988, we saved the barn from "development destruction" and moved it to the current site.

During reassembly, the original hand cut pins were used where ever possible. All of the beams are hand hewn White Oak. The largest is 55 feet long and is 18" square.

Some photos of the barn being moved and rebuilt!
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The Zehrung Slide Collection

These lantern slides originally came to the Deal family from Samuel Danford Zehrung (1/23/1892-12/26/1988). We believe they were taken during a European tour by Sam and his wife Hazel. Sam Zehrung was a well-known Dayton area landscape architect in the 1920’s, 30’s and 40's. He was born in Roseville, Ohio, in 1892, and studied at several universities; his Master of Landscape Architect being earned from Harvard University. Before and during the Great Depression, Samuel co-owned San Rae Gardens in West Carrollton where he designed gorgeous landscapes for many well-to-do people in the Dayton area. Around 1928, at the peak of his career, Sam hired a young worker by the name of Robert Deal. As the depression wore on, Sam's business consisted mostly of landscape maintenance work. That is when Bob and his wife moved on to start a small card and flower shop on Salem Avenue in Dayton. In 1940, the Deal family expanded, moved the family business to its current location in Beavercreek and added landscaping services.

For the remainder of his life, Sam Zehrung and his wife Hazel were close friends with the Deal family.

When Sam and his wife moved from a large Miamisburg home to a retirement home in Yellow Springs, Sam gave Bob many items from his landscape trade. These slides, found when cleaning the old homestead in 2010, are part of what Sam Zehrung passed down to Bob Deal. Also in the collection was a landscape drawing for High Acres, the former Frederick H. Rike mansion. It is an ink on linen design prepare by Samuel Zehrung. A copy of the High Acres drawing is hanging in our landscape office today.

Thanks to our friend and computer wizard (and now archivist historian), each lantern slide was cleaned then scanned on an Epson Perfection V600 Photo Scanner using VueScan software (2 color passes followed by a grey scale pass), and saved as a high quality JPEG file. Each slide has been filed in an archival quality sleeve and stored in an acid free storage box. The entire original glass slide collection is now housed in The Wright State University Archives for preservation.
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©2024 Deal’s Landscape Service, Inc.
3454 Dayton-Xenia Road
Beavercreek, Ohio 45432
(937) 426-2118

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