RICHARD ROOSE, 1919-2013

Businessman, wife operated flooring stores

3/19/2013

Richard Roose, co-owner with his late wife, Margaret, of flooring businesses in South Toledo and Perrysburg, died Saturday in his home in Ida, Mich. He was 93.

Mr. Roose, formerly of South Toledo, was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and recently returned home after being hospitalized for about a month, said his son Jeffrey Roose.

“He had a long life, and he sure enjoyed it,” his son said.

Mr. Roose and his wife began Beverly Floor Coverings on Rugby Drive, which installed carpet, linoleum, and “anything you could put on the floor,” his son said.

The business, which began in the late 1950s or early 1960s, was purchased by another company in the 1970s, and the couple operated out of their home in South Toledo before opening a new store in downtown Perrysburg.

The store, called Roose Brothers Floor Covering, dealt in carpeting, tiles, vinyl flooring, and countertops. Mr. Roose worked in the store, and his brother, Melvin Roose, did most of the installations.

“The business was like a mom-and-pop store. Mom worked in the store and helped out my dad,” his son said.

Mr. Roose worked the midnight shift for 10 years at Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. in Toledo. He would leave the plant at 8 a.m. and then go to the store in Perrysburg, his son said.

A fire struck the Perrysburg business in 1985, and instead of rebuilding, the Rooses closed the store.

Mr. Roose graduated in 1937 from DeVilbiss High School. He married the former Margaret Nugent on Feb. 12, 1955. She died Nov. 2, 2007.

Mr. Roose took up stained-glass art and created more than 200 pieces. He also taught the craft to his son Jeffrey.

Surviving are his sons, Timothy, Jeffrey, and Scott Roose; daughters, Susan Middleton and Sandra Walton; 10 grandchildren, and five great grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 2 to 8 p.m. Wednesday in the Walker Funeral Home, 5155 W. Sylvania Ave., where services will be at 11 a.m. Thursday. The family suggests tributes to the Hospice of Northwest Ohio in Perrysburg Township.

— Mark Reiter