On this day back in the day, a crowd of men would be found assembled inside Bortmas, The Butler Florist waiting to pick up the box of roses they had ordered for the women they loved.

Valentine's Day and other holidays were so busy for the Butler businessman that the children of the late owner Leeland “Lee” Bortmas got their friends from high school to work with them at the flower shop.

“You would go out through that door and see men everywhere just waiting to pick up flowers,” said Polly Palermo, one of Bortmas' children who used to work at the shop. “Valentine's Day was very busy. Mother's Day was even busier.”

Bortmas, who sold the shop in 1979 and went on to collect and restore Bantam Jeeps and other classic vehicles, and serve in many community organizations, died Feb. 7 at the age of 94.

He began working for his father at the shop in 1952 after he was discharged from the Army.

Palermo’s recollection of the business begins at the shop’s original location on Jefferson Street.

Her grandfather Charles Bortmas bought the shop in 1927 during the Great Depression for $600. Her father bought the business from his father. The family eventually moved the business to its current location on East Wayne Street.

Christmas and high school proms also were busy times at the shop.

“They didn't sell flowers in grocery stores back then,” Palermo said. “He was always good to his customers.”

She said the florist business was a “24-7” operation when her father ran the shop.

A recording that customers calling after the close of normal business hours heard gave instruction to call the family home to place orders.

“We grew up with a pen and pad right by the phone. Even if we were eating we had to get the phone,” Palermo said.

She said her father opened the shop Sunday mornings to handle flower orders from funeral homes.

He strapped boxes of flowers to the running boards of his car to deliver them, she said.

Valentine's Day and other holidays meant a lot of box folding for his children and other employees.

“We were always folding boxes to get ready,” said Bortmas' other daughter Debra Minten. “It was customers, customers customers. My dad was a stickler when it came to customers. He always said the customer is always right no matter what you think.”

Bortmas lived in Butler Township for most of his life, but moved in with Minten and her family about a year ago. His wife, Ruth, died in 2018.

Minten said she still works at the shop to prepare flower orders for proms. Her boss, the current owner, Ed Bloom, is a familiar face. He was one the friends who Palermo would call to work during holidays.

“My dad offered to sell it to him. His parents signed for it. He was 19 or 20,” Palermo said.

Nineteen, Bloom said.

He said he worked for the Bortmas family cutting grass at their home and at the store in junior high school and high school.

Bloom said his parents let him take the day off of school to work at the shop on Valentine's Day and other holidays.

Working at the shop during a summer break from college, Bloom said Bortmas hinted to him that he was interested in selling the business.

“My parents backed me and we purchased the business. Jan. 1, 1980, we bought the business,” Bloom said.

Bortmas, who was 52 at that time, spent the second half of his life working in several different businesses and engaging in pursuits he was already involved in.

Bortmas owned and restored old vehicles including a Bantam Jeep and a Bantam service truck, was a member of several automobile clubs and a boat club and was active in Calvary United Presbyterian Church. He also was active in the Masons' Butler Lodge 272 and the Butler Kiwanis Club.

“He was just a busy man. He couldn't sit down for very long,” Minten said.

His renowned knowledge of Bantam Jeeps earned him the opportunity to narrate “Automobiles, The Jeep,” a documentary on the History Channel about the development of the Jeep, including the fist Jeep prototype built by Bantam in Butler.

“He was a reference book of Jeeps. I don't know anyone who knows more,” said John Pro, of the Old Stone House Chapter of the Antique Car Club of America.

Pro said Bortmas and the late Robert Brandon of Butler were the preeminent Bantam historians in the county.

“When it came down to questions, I don’t know what I'm going to do. My first shot a lot of the time was Lee and Bob Brandon. If they couldn't answer, I was in trouble,” Pro said.

He said Bortmas and Brandon did the original restoration of the Bantam Jeep owned by Butler city. The city let the Butler County Historical Society display the Jeep. The Old Stone House car club is the current caretaker of the city's Jeep.

Bortmas also gave one of the Bantams he restored to the historical society, Pro said.

He was a member of the Friends of the Bantam Jeep, which helps organize the annual Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival, said Bill Ringeisen, another Bantam enthusiast.

“He was very knowledgeable about the Jeep. It was impressive. He knew everything about them. If you had a question, he could answer it real quick. He was an interesting man,” Ringeisen said.

He said Bortmas also worked as an appraiser of antique and military vehicles.

With the Masons, he took part in construction of the Masonic shelter in Alameda Park.

At Calvary United Presbyterian, Bortmas was a substitute Sunday school teacher and member of the board of trustees.

He was proud of his military service. After graduating from Butler Area High School, he enlisted in the U.S. Cost Guard Maritime Service in 1945 and then served in the Army from 1950 to 1952 in Germany during the Korean War.

His daughters remember his sense of humor and adventure. He took the family water-skiing on the Allegheny River in Phillipson, near East Brady in Clarion County, and on vacations in a travel trailer.

“It was just fun. We had a great childhood,” Palermo said. “He was a great storyteller. He had a great sense of humor.”