MUELLER, MARGARET CROWL REID (20 August 1929 – 10 August 2018) was social worker, political candidate, preservationist, and the creator of one of Cleveland’s most notable small restaurants.
Born to Felice Crowl and JAMES SIMS REID (the founder of STANDARD PRODUCTS) Margaret attended HATHAWAY BROWN SCHOOL and Smith College. Later she would earn a Master’s degree in Education at CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY and a Masters in Social Work from CWRU’s Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences.
Her life was never constrained by either gender or class. She would fondly remember riding cows on her family’s rural property and hanging out with her brother Jim Reid and the boys. She would eventually marry one of Jim's best friends, WERNER DIEBOLT MUELLER.
She carved out multiple careers. She was a social worker for the CLEVELAND SOCIETY FOR THE BLIND and at Children's Services, and then served as a supervisor in the probation department of the CUYAHOGA COUNTY JUVENILE COURT.
A progressive Republican, she was a three-time (1986, 1988, 1990) candidate for the 11th district seat in the US House of Representatives, engaging in robust campaigns with incumbents Dennis Eckart and Sherrod Brown.
Working with Maxine Levin, she entered the field of historic preservation focusing largely on the potential of structures along Prospect Avenue in Cleveland. Together they restored and managed several structures including the Raymond House, an 1875 structure that had been built by AMASA STONE. Later they restored “Six Chimneys” an apartment building at 3906 Prospect to provide low rent housing.
Following the death of her husband, Werner, in 2001 she embarked on yet another venture, buying an old (1910) house on Larchmere Avenue in 2003 and turning it into a restaurant. The creation of “Felice”, which opened in 2008, was a major step in the rebirth of the LARCHMERE area. Margaret moved out of her SHAKER HEIGHTS home and into a neighborhood home across the street from the restaurant. She often tended the restaurant’s garden which provided fresh greens and vegetables for Felice’s innovative cuisine (overseen by chef, Ricardo Sandoval) and was ever present at the restaurant, greeting and chatting with the customers.
Margaret and Werner Mueller were married on September 6, 1952 and had five children, Frederick, Lydia, John, Felice, and Omar.
John J. Grabowski
Updated: 3 February 2023
Mueller, Werner D. and Gardiner, Duncan Buchanan. To Cleveland and Away: Of Muellers, Reids, and Others. Novelty, OH 1993