Venus “Vee” Shakarian (Toner) was born on December 19, 1906, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to immigrants from Istanbul, Turkey. She became a member of Delta Zeta while attending the University of Pittsburgh. She was a prominent athlete when she was in college and served as the president of the Women’s Athletic Association. A member of Mortar Board, she was listed in Who’s Who of American Colleges and Universities.
Her father, Hogop David Shakarian, started selling lackzoom, a yogurt, door to door. That led to a storefront sandwich and yogurt shop. After her father’s death in 1936, her brothers, David and Bart, grew the company into General Nutrition Centers (GNC).
“Three Verona, Pa, teachers – Vee Shakarian, Jo Pinkerton and Betty George” Pittsburgh Press, August 26, 1929
She married Arthur C. Toner, Jr., on Friday, September 24, 1937. The headline in the Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph read “Pittsburg Aviatrix Will Wed Engineer.” Their romance began on a tennis court. At the time of her wedding she taught at Gladstone Junior High School.
Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, September 17, 1937
It was noted that the bride was “one of the few women to hold a Department of Commerce pilot’s license and has flown in national aviation races.” She served as secretary and president of the Ninety-Nines, a national organization of licensed female pilots.
A health and physical education teacher in Pittsburgh junior and high schools, she did graduate work at Pitt, Wisconsin, UCLA and Oxford College in England.
Toner was also known internationally and officiated at the 1955 Pan-American Games in Mexico City and the games in 1959 in Chicago. She chaperoned the 1956 women’s Olympic swimming and diving team and in 1960 was on the Women’s Olympic Swimming Committee for the Rome Olympics. She continued to serve on the U.S. Olympics Committee at various points. Later in her life, she served as a guest speaker in the subject of sports, athletics and Olympics. Her speaking fees were donated to the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Tennis remained a part of her life, too. Toner was the first American woman named chair umpire at Wimbledon. She officiated at International Federation Cup matches and tournaments in England and umpired the Wightman Cup matches.
Toner was also the first woman cited for civic and social leadership and community achievement at the Pittsburgh’s Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees) 1964 Man of the Year Banquet.
A 1965 Lamp of Delta Zeta noted, “Vee’s spare time is devoted to Delta Zeta youth and members of Omicron chapter at the University of Pittsburgh. She is one of the best-known alumnae.”
1965 Lamp of Delta Zeta
Toner was Delta Zeta’s Woman of the Year in 1970, although some publicity was published in 1969. The October 30, 1969 edition of the Indiana Evening Gazette in Indiana, Pennsylvania, reported that “Mrs. Arthur C. (Vee) Toner, Jr., was given the honor at a reception on October 21 at the Cathedral of Learning. Delta Zeta’s national president Betty Heusch Agler presented a medallion to Toner for her contribution and participation in international amateur sports.”
Delta Zeta established a loan fund in her name. The Vee Shakarian Toner Student Loan Fund was announced at the 1973 Convention in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Toner served as chairman of Women’s Swimming of the Alleghany Mountain Association of the Amateur Athletic Union, U.S.A., an organization of which she was vice president and president. She was the first woman from western Pennsylvania to be named to the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. She also won numerous civic honors including Pittsburgh’s Woman of the Year and the Leyman Honor Award from what was then the Pennsylvania State Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation.
Vee Shakarian Toner died on March 6, 1995. It was noted that she was “the Grand Dame of tennis and swimming in Pittsburgh area.”
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 18, 1986
