Ex-barber turned to remodeling

7/20/2005

David L. McCutcheon, 74, a one-time barber and building supplies salesman who owned a remodeling business for nearly 25 years, died Friday in Lake Park care center from complications of cerebral hemorrhages suffered in the last year.

He operated McCutcheon Construction from his West Toledo home since 1981. He acted as general contractor and specialized in home remodeling and improvements to commercial buildings.

To him, the business was about more than bricks and mortar. "You're making a difference in people's lives: Your house isn't the way you want it [and] you have somebody in, and they offer ideas on how to make it the way you want," daughter Lisa McCutcheon said.

He made a good impression on clients and had a sense of color and design they found appealing, his daughter said.

He also knew the business and knew about construction and repair. He spent much of the 1970s selling building supplies and windows to contractors. And he picked up his building skill while growing up on a Williams County farm.

"When the barn needed to be repaired, you didn't call a carpenter. You fixed it," his daughter said. "He was one of those people who could fix almost anything."

Mr. McCutcheon grew up near Edon, Ohio, the 11th of 12 children. He left Edon High School during the Korean War to enlist in the Navy.

After a year back on the farm, he moved to Toledo and enrolled in barber school. He opened Dave's Barber Shop on Central and Upton avenues about 1960. He sold his business about six years later, although he helped out barber friends for years afterward.

He later worked at Unitcast and for Superior Linen Overall Laundry.

Mr. McCutcheon was a former president of the Toledo Home Remodelers Association and of the Toledo Kirby Club.

Mr. McCutcheon and his wife, Liz, married July 23, 1955. She died Jan. 19, 2000.

Surviving are his son, David; daughter, Lisa A. McCutcheon; brothers, Thomas and Matthew; sisters, Anna Moog, Jean Fletcher, and Betty David; four grandsons, and a great-granddaughter.

The body will be in the Walker Funeral Home after 2 p.m. today, with Scripture services at 7 tonight in the mortuary. Services will be at 10 a.m. tomorrow in Christ the King Church, of which he was a member. The family suggests tributes to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis.