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81-year-old matriarch of Utica meat-processing business leaving after 47 years
Dean Narciso, The Columbus Dispatch
© Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch
Linda Oiler pulls a package of brats from a walk-in freezer.
UTICA For almost a half-century, Linda Oiler has watched hunters, wildlife officers and friends come into the little butcher shop in northern Licking County, each expecting to convert their harvest into future meals.
Over her 47 years there, she has overseen the processing of countless deer, hogs, cattle and even an elk or two at Oiler Meat Processing. But at age 81, the white-haired matriarch of the business says it s time to exchange her omnipresent red apron for the comforts of her beloved vegetable garden and her 120-acre farm not far from work. ....

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