Here is the complete statement from former House Speaker John Boehner after being told about Slagle’s passing: “Dick Slagle was a giant of a man whose impact on the Middletown region will be evident for generations to come. His spirit was as strong as the wood of the gavel he fashioned for me as I prepared to become Speaker. That gavel was by my side through my speakership as a source of confidence and strength — the gift of a teacher, a mentor, and a true friend. He was all of those things to me, and to many others who were blessed to know him during his long and remarkable life.
“Dick was a major force in my career, teaching me how to sharpen my communications skills when I was a young salesman and state legislator, and helping to persuade me to leave my small business and commit myself to public service as a candidate for the U.S. House. Dick believed I could do it before anybody else did. He believed in me before I believed it myself.
“Dick’s finest work was the work he did for the family and community he loved. He was a devoted husband and father. As a result of his work for the Middletown Chamber of Commerce and later at Armco, he became an icon in the Middletown community. He was a visionary who loved his adopted hometown and never stopped believing in its potential.
“He was one of the greatest men I ever knew. May God rest his soul and bring comfort to his family.”
Richard “Dick” Slagle had a “love and dedication” for Middletown, his son Rick Slagle said.
“He just had a love for the city,” he said of his father.
Even though Slagle was born in Sidney and worked in Findlay, he left his mark in Middletown.
The city “lost a great friend and advocate,” said Rick Pearce, president of the Chamber of Commerce serving Middletown, Monroe and Trenton. “His influence on the community and those he came in contact with will be felt for years to come.”
Slagle, who led the Middletown Chamber of Commerce and served as an executive at Armco Steel, died Tuesday morning at Berkeley Square in Hamilton. He was 90.
The memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Friday with Father John Civille officiating at Breitenbach Anderson Funeral Home, 517 Sutphin St., Middletown. Besides a son, Slagle is survived by a daughter, Susan Cole, of Middletown. He was preceded in death by his wife, Patricia.
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.
Throughout his career, Slagle became good friends with former Speaker John Boehner. When Boehner was named speaker in 2011, Slagle made him an enormous wooden gavel as a gift.
Boehner called Slagle “a giant of a man whose impact on the Middletown region will be evident for generations to come. His spirit was as strong as the wood of the gavel he fashioned for me as I prepared to become speaker. That gavel was by my side through my speakership as a source of confidence and strength — the gift of a teacher, a mentor, and a true friend. He was all of those things to me, and to many others who were blessed to know him during his long and remarkable life.”
Through his work and volunteer efforts, Boehner wrote Slagle became “an icon in the Middletown community. He was a visionary who loved his adopted hometown and never stopped believing in its potential.”
Two years ago, during the annual luncheon for the Chamber of Commerce, Slagle was surprised when he received the inaugural Richard W. Slagle Lifetime Achievement Award.
Slagle was introduced to Middletown in 1958 when Middletown’s C. William 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 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.
Slagle led the chamber on four occasions — including in the interim basis when he was 87 — and was 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.
His son called the golf courses “two of his babies.”
Dan Sack worked under Slagle in the public affairs office at Armco. He called Slagle “a wonderful boss” because of his creativity and dynamic personality.
While at Armco, and in retirement, Slagle offered public speaking classes and Boehner and Scott Nein, former member of the Ohio House of Representatives, were two of his students, Sack said.
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