Richard W. Slagle was a young chamber executive in Findlay, Ohio, when Middletown’s Calvin Verity, who served as the Secretary of Commerce between 1987 and 1989, called and asked him to drive to Middletown and make a presentation to community leaders. Slagle was only 32 at the time, but he had a reputation in the business world.
Verity was so impressed by Slagle that he called him a few months later and asked him if he wanted to move his family to Middletown and take over the chamber. He said yes.
In return, Middletown received one of its greatest visionaries, a man who led the chamber of commerce on four occasions — including in the interim basis last year when he was 87 — and the driving force behind the building of Weatherwax and Shaker Run golf courses and Miami University and Cincinnati State opening branch campuses in the city.
He began his career at the Middletown Chamber of Commerce in 1959, worked there for 10 years, then joined Armco where he worked until he retired in 1985. On Thursday, during the Chamber of Commerce serving Middletown, Monroe and Trenton annual luncheon, Slagle was surprised when he received the inaugural Richard W. Slagle Lifetime Achievement Award.
Those in attendance gave Slagle a standing ovation, and he grabbed his wooden cane, pushed up from the table and started an unsteady walk toward the stage. But the large plaque was brought to his table.
What followed was a steady stream of politicians who praised Slagle for his work with the chamber and his community service. In a letter from his good friend, House Speaker John Boehner, Slagle was called a “selfless individual.”
Middletown Mayor Lawrence Mulligan declared Thursday “Dick Slagle Day” in the city.
Butler County Commissioner T.C. Rogers said he met Slagle for the first time years ago over lunch in a dimly lit corner booth at the Meadows restaurant in Middletown. He said it reminded him of a scene from the movie “Godfather.”
Later, Rogers called Slagle “the Godfather of Middletown.”
Rick Pearce, chamber president, said the biggest “challenge” still lies ahead for Slagle: getting the information stored in his mind transferred to Pearce’s mind.
“You are a hard act to follow,” Pearce told him.
At one point, Slagle almost seemed embarrassed by the attention. Later, he said it was like attending his memorial service.
“I felt like I should cross my hands on my chest,” he said with a smile.
Butler County treasurer Nancy Nix, a Middletown resident, said Slagle has served as her mentor since the late 1990s. She said he always believed it was part of his duty to train the next generation of leaders.
When asked what Middletown would be like if Verity never made that call and Slagle never moved, she said: “There would be a void.”
A hole large enough for all the businesses, golfers, and college students in town.
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