Blakeslee business owner was on council

10/2/2005

BLAKESLEE, Ohio - Leo J. Muehlfeld, a longtime business owner, 31-year village councilman, and a former volunteer firefighter here, died of myelofibrosis Thursday in his home. He was 66.

Mr. Muehlfeld started Muehlfeld Furniture and Upholstery in 1965 and operated it ever since. He also owned rental property throughout Williams County.

Mr. Muehlfeld had been a Blakeslee councilman since 1974 and a volunteer firefighter for the Blakeslee Fire Department from the mid-1960s through the 1980s.

"He was a hardworking and a very happy man. He enjoyed himself, and he joked a lot," his son Patrick "Buck" Muehlfeld said.

Mr. Muehlfeld, a native of Williams County's St. Joseph Township, grew up helping out at the family farm about a mile south of here.

He graduated from Edgerton High School in 1957. A year later, he enlisted in the Army Reserve and in 1961 - at the height of the Berlin Crisis - was called to active duty. The Berlin crisis involved a controversy so bitter and so serious, world leaders feared a misstep could start a nuclear war.

He served in Blackstone, Va., until 1962, when he was honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant.

After the service, he settled in Blakeslee with his wife, Linda L. Muehlfeld, a Blakeslee native.

He became a quality controller at the former 3M adhesives and glue factory in Montpelier, Ohio.

In his spare time, Mr. Muehlfeld liked to play cards on a riverboat casino in Joliet, Ill.

Mr. Muehlfeld was a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church, Blakeslee; the Knights of Columbus Council 3883, also in Blakeslee; the Bryan Eagles Aerie 2233, and the Montpelier Moose Lodge 312.

Surviving are his wife of 45 years, Linda L. Muehlfeld; sons, Todd, Patrick "Buck," Jody, and Monty "Pete"; daughters, Jacine Goebel and Amy Brandt; sister, Irene Lehman; stepmother, Doris Muehlfeld; stepbrothers, Gene Pahl, Darrel Pahl, and Lee Pahl, and 15 grandchildren.

Services will be at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow in St. Joseph Catholic Church, Blakeslee. Visitation is after 2 p.m. today in the Krill Funeral Home, Edon, Ohio, where recitation of the Rosary will follow at 8 p.m.

The family suggests tributes to St. Joseph Catholic Church or the Community Hospitals and Wellness Centers' hospice care.