Cummerow's father, Richard was bookkeeper of Buckeye from 1884 to 1909. Otto joined Buckeye in 1901 as an office boy. He became the Assistant Secretary-Treasurer in 1914 and Secretary-Treasurer in 1922. The newspaper article above from the 9/22/1922 Cincinnati Enquirer includes a quote from Cummerow regarding Buckeye's decision to convert their plants to cold storage during prohibition. Since illegal beer was so plentiful in Toledo during prohibition, Buckeye decided there was no reason to try to compete with legal "near" beer. 

​

Buckeye survived prohibition and Cummerow continued to serve in leadership roles. He was named interim President in 1953, and led Buckeye for two years before retiring in 1955, the same year Buckeye Brewery produced it's 10 millionth barrel of beer in it's 100 years of continuous operation at the Bush and Champlain location. The barrel was given to Cummerow for his 70th birthday.