Carol C. Mallendick, 1948-2012: Ex-PTO leader founded fuel distribution firm

Carol C. Mallendick, a onetime Ottawa Hills homemaker and volunteer who founded a trucking and fuel distribution business, died Tuesday in St. Luke's Hospital. She was 64.

Mrs. Mallendick, a Maumee resident, died of complications from an allergic reaction suffered June 17, her son Rob said.

She was corporate secretary of Seaway Fuels Trucking Inc., a fuel distribution business she founded in the early 1990s as C. Mallendick & Sons. Before the name change in the late 1990s, she was president and chief executive officer.

She still worked every day at the firm's South Toledo offices. "She was not just a boss, she was a friend and a mother to the employees," her son said.

Mrs. Mallendick formed the business after her husband's company, Empire Petroleum Inc., went out of business. Her sons had a role, and her husband helped. Each son is a company officer of the renamed Seaway Fuels: Matthew is vice president. Marc is treasurer.

"Technically, I became president," son Rob said. "She was such a strong personality, she still ran most things."

She was far from stern or strict, though.

"She was bubbly, and she always looked for the good in people and situations," son Rob said. "She'd come into a room, and she'd be the person to start all the conversations and get people laughing."

She and Paula Mehring hit it off instantly. Mrs. Mehring's husband, Robert, built the Mallendicks' Ottawa Hills home in the early 1980s. The women met when Mrs. Mallendick stopped by the Mehring home.

"We became friends from very first day we met. I would call her a friend extraordinaire," Mrs. Mehring said. "She had a way that was so easy to be with."

Mrs. Mallendick was president of the Ottawa Hills Parent-Teacher Organization. She was a member of the Toledo Women's Club and volunteered for the club's charitable projects.

Starting and running a business wasn't much of an adjustment. "Carol was very knowledgeable," Mrs. Mehring said. "She was a fast learner with anything. When she decided to [start a business], it was something that came almost natural to her."

She was born June 24, 1948, in Hillsdale, Mich., to Margaret and Harold Caulkins, who was the police chief. She was a graduate of Hillsdale High School and was a nursing student when she was introduced to Robert Mallendick. They married less than a year later.

Mrs. Mallendick liked to golf and was a member of Brandywine Country Club.

She was a member of the Ohio Contractors Association.

Surviving are her husband, Robert J. Mallendick, Jr., whom she married Dec. 5, 1970; sons, Robert III, Matthew, and Marc Mallendick; brothers, Ron and Dan Salsbury, and six grandchildren.

Visitation is to be toady from 3 to 8 p.m. in the Walter Funeral Home. Services are to be Sunday at 3 p.m. in Trinity Lutheran Church, where she was a member.

The family suggests tributes to a charity of the donor's choice.

Contact Mark Zaborney at: mzaborney@theblade.com or 419-724-6182.