City firefighter won valor award, owned area bars

6/17/2006

Howard R. Luffy, Sr., 71, a retired Toledo firefighter and former owner of several area bars, died of cirrhosis Wednesday in the Hospice of Northwest Ohio, Perrysburg Township.

Mr. Luffy retired from the Toledo Fire Department in 1975 after 12 years of service. On his time off, he did concrete work at area construction sites.

In 1971, Mr. Luffy received the Award of Valor for saving the life of a fellow firefighter.

He pulled his friend and fellow Toledo fireman, the late Gary Good, out of the fire in 1970, Mr. Luffy's wife of 24 years, Nancy Luffy, said.

Over the years, Mr. Luffy also owned and operated several area bars.

They included Luffy's Irish Tavern on Lagrange Street in the 1980s, Luffy's Last Chance Saloon in Oregon in the 1980s through early 1990s, the Irish Tavern in West Toledo in the 1970s, and the Flamingo on Woodville Road in Millbury, also in the 1970s.

Before that, Mr. Luffy was a produce manager for the Kroger Co. and worked at the former Johns Manville Corp., both in Toledo.

"He was the kind of person who would give you the shirt off his back," Mrs. Luffy said.

"He never met an enemy. Everybody who ever met him was a friend."

In retirement, Mr. Luffy was a motor route carrier for The Blade for 22 years, until 2000.

A native of Pittsburgh, Mr. Luffy attended Central Catholic High School in Toledo until 1952, when he quit to travel to Florida.

In 1953, Mr. Luffy enlisted in the Army, serving as a lineman at Fort Devens in Shirley, Mass., until his honorable discharge in 1956.

Formerly of West Toledo, Mr. Luffy, who lived in Oregon since about 1980, enjoyed spending time with his family, playing the saxophone, golfing, fishing, and making trips to Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Mr. Luffy was a member of Cooley Canal Yacht Club, where he was a past commodore.

Surviving are his wife of 24 years, Nancy; sons, Michael Luffy and Howard Luffy, Jr.; stepson, William Fisher; stepdaughter, Penny Krupp; sister, Margie Jewson; half-brother, Louis Biller; nine grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

The funeral services will be at 2 p.m. today in the Eggleston Meinert Pavley Funeral Home, Oregon Chapel, with visitation from noon to 9 p.m. today. A Toledo Firefighter Last Alarm Service will be at 7 p.m. today at the chapel, with the Cooley Canal Yacht Club service to follow at 7:30 tonight.

The family suggests tributes to the Toledo Firefighters Museum or the Hospice of Northwest Ohio.