Mud Hens official was a natural promoter

2/1/2004

TEMPERANCE - James F. Rohr, a former assistant general manager of the Toledo Mud Hens, died Thursday in St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center from complications of pneumonia. He was 60.

Mr. Rohr sold cars most recently for Allen Chevrolet-Cadillac in Monroe. Sales and, as during his years with the Mud Hens, promotions and advertising, seemed a match for his outgoing manner.

“You met him, and you d never forget him,” his wife, Linda, said.

Mr. Rohr joined the Mud Hens in 1978 and, in 1983, was named assistant general manager by then-General Manager Gene Cook. Mr. Rohr was responsible for the team s sales and promotional activities, and he supervised general ballpark operations.

“He loved baseball. He always played it,” his brother said.

Mr. Rohr became director of public relations for the Las Vegas Stars baseball team in 1990, but returned to Toledo later in the decade.

He was a supervisor from 1974 to 1979 at the Lucas County Board of Elections, where he oversaw the setup of voting machines and helped find voting locations and devise precincts. He was a former executive board member of the Lucas County Democratic Party and served on the screening committee. He was a former president of the West Toledo Democratic Club.

Mr. Rohr attended St. Francis de Sales High School, and was a 1961 graduate of Whitmer High School. As a teenager, he took up the drums, following the example of his father, a drummer and local dance band leader. The younger Mr. Rohr was part of the rock n roll groups, the Rhythm Kings and the Majestics.

Mr. Rohr attended the University of Toledo. He worked for the Spicer Division of Dana Corp. and in sales and marketing at Waste Management of Toledo.

Surviving are his wife, Linda, whom he married June 27, 2002; mother, Marjorie Rohr; brothers, Jeffrey and Jay Rohr, and sisters, Janet Schultz, Julie Keefer, and Joan Loucks.

Visitation will be from 3 to 8 p.m. tomorrow in the Ansberg-West Mortuary, with a Scripture service at 7 p.m. in the mortuary. Memorial services will be at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday in Christ the King Church, of which he was a member.

The family suggests tributes to the James F. Rohr Scholarship Fund at St. Francis de Sales High School.