CARL M. ‘SLICK’ SCHLIESSER, 1947-2013

Ex-officer reveled in new assignments

2/8/2013

Carl M. “Slick” Schliesser, a 30-year police veteran who had a reputation for diligence and hard work, whether managing the police fleet or breaking through doors on the SWAT team, died Monday in Mercy St. Charles Hospital. He was 65.

Mr. Schliesser of Oregon learned in November that he had esophageal cancer, his daughter, Lori Daniels, said. For the previous decade, he worked in security at the U.S. Courthouse in downtown Toledo.

He retired from the Toledo Police Department in 1999.

“He was very well thought of, a dedicated officer who worked hard,” said Bernie Moss, a retired Toledo police detective who worked with Mr. Schliesser on the entry and SWAT teams.

One of his last assignments was as a detective investigating property crimes. One of his first was walking a beat in East Toledo. He worked in uniform and in plainclothes on the vice-metro drug unit.

“The most fun was working on the SWAT team, when there was a lot of combat-type situations,” he told The Blade in 1997. At the time, he oversaw the department’s fleet of nearly 300 marked and unmarked vehicles. He monitored the condition of each, scheduled maintenance, and tracked repairs. His colleagues who were in a patrol car knew the value of a problem-free ride.

“They come to me, because I will make it happen,” he told The Blade.

He looked forward to the challenge of each new assignment. “Every day was a different day, and you didn’t know what was going to happen,” his son, Chad, said.

He received honors, commendations, and professional-service awards. He and a team of other officers received a letter of recognition for helping an elderly woman move.

Mr. Schliesser was a former officer in the Toledo Police Patrolman’s Association. He and Mr. Moss had a combined retirement party in January, 1999, at the TPPA hall, and extra tables and chairs had to be brought in, Mr. Moss recalled.

He was born July 29, 1947, to Virginia and Edward Schliesser and grew up on Bond Street. He was proud of his east-side heritage. His golf cart and sweatshirt were emblazoned “05,” as in the last digits of East Toledo’s ZIP code.

He was a star linebacker at Waite High School, where he and his wife, Peggy — a cheerleader — were sweethearts. He was inducted into Waite’s athletic hall of fame in 1995.

“That was everything to him. He was so proud of that,” his son said.

The couple married June 13, 1970. She died Sept. 14, 2010.

He was an Army veteran of the Vietnam War. His children said he didn’t speak much of his service except to remark on his dislike for the snakes there and bad Army food. He was a strict father — and easy-going, his son said. He “loved to be the life of the party,” his daughter said. He’d skipped childhood accordion lessons to play ball with his friends, but that didn’t stop him from performing.

“Every holiday, he would bust out the accordion and play, but all he could play was Christmas music,” his daughter said.

He fished for perch and walleye from his boat on Lake Erie, and he often brought family and friends along. He and his significant other, Margie Egan, visited the casinos of Detroit, Windsor, Ont., and Toledo. He made time for his grandchildren, traveling to their school and sports events or taking them to lunch.

Surviving are his son, Chad Schliesser; daughter, Lori Daniels, and three grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 2-9 p.m. Saturday in the Eggleston Meinert & Pavley Funeral Home, Oregon Chapel. Services will be private.

The family suggests tributes to Hospice of Northwest Ohio or the Waite High School building fund.

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