Lawyer known for real estate expertise
4/13/2003Richard W. “Bud” Boldt, a lawyer known for his expertise in real estate and a former executive officer of what is now the Home Builders Association of Greater Toledo, died Friday in St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center. He was 83.
He had heart and kidney disease, said his son, Daniel, with whom he shared a legal practice. Son David, now an Ottawa County assistant prosecutor, formerly was in the practice.
Mr. Boldt, of Washington Township, was considered an expert in tax, business, and real estate development law.
“He was held in very high esteem,” said Robert Young, an assistant U.S. attorney formerly in practice with Mr. Boldt, as was his father, former city law director Louis R. Young.
Mr. Boldt donated his services to churches and veterans and Masonic groups.
“He was interested in the practice of law as a challenge,” his son said.
Mr. Boldt was executive officer for more than a decade of the then-Toledo Association of Home Builders, beginning in the mid-1950s. He oversaw the first Parade of Homes on Camille Drive near Byrne Road and Glendale Avenue.
“He had been working with builders before and he understood all our problems,” said Mike Wilson, founder of M.L. Wilson Builders, Inc., and 1960 president of the association. “He had a favorite saying: `You, builder. Me, attorney. I'll take care of it.' And he did. In 50 years as a homebuilder, I was never sued, and I give the lion's share of the credit to him.”
Mr. Boldt was a former owner of the Colonial Village Shopping Center at Key Street and Heatherdowns Boulevard.
He grew up in North Toledo and was a graduate of Woodward High School. He was a staff sergeant in the Army Air Corps stationed in England during World War II. He received a bachelor's degree in accounting and a law degree from the University of Toledo.
He was honored in 2001 for 50 years in practice by the Ohio and Toledo bar associations.
He liked to bowl, golf, and travel. He and his wife spent several months each winter in Cape Coral, Fla. He was devoted especially to his grandchildren, even watching their sports events from a car though his health was poor, daughter-in-law Kim Boldt said.
He was a founder and past commander of the North End American Legion, Post 576.
Surviving are his wife, Bessie, whom he married Nov. 22, 1947; sons, David and Daniel, and four grandchildren.
The body will be in the Foth-Dorfmeyer Mortuary from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, with a Masonic service at 7:30 p.m. and an American Legion-VFW service at 8 in the mortuary. Memorial services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday in First United Church of Christ. The family requests tributes to a charity of the donor's choice.