Arthur Landseadel, 1922-2013: WWII veteran was Sylvania’sforester, managed flower show

7/4/2013

Landseadel

JETTA FRASER

When Arthur Landseadel was very young, his mother turned over part of the family’s backyard so a young Art, as nearly everyone called him, could garden.

For decades, Mr. Landseadel nurtured his green thumb and eventually dedicated his life to the beautification of Sylvania, where he lived for more than 50 years.

Mr. Landseadel, a landscape architect, died Friday at Hospice of Northwest Ohio in Perrysburg Township. He was 91.

He was admitted to a local hospital April 2 with heart concerns and never fully recovered, his son-in-law David Russell said.

In the city he loved, he worked tirelessly in many organizations, served as the first and only city forester beginning in 1976, and for every year since 1982, earned Sylvania the Tree City USA distinction.

“He did so many things and really wanted Sylvania to be a destination spot for people to live, work, and play,” Mr. Russell said.

One of Mr. Landseadel’s passions was the Sylvania Youth Conservation Corps, which he established in 1993. It offered four weeks of summer employment to junior high students, planting flowers in the city.

“He was always thinking of what next he could do or accomplish to make things better,” said longtime friend Margaret Hiett, 88. “He was very anxious to get others interested and realize how important our trees are and how many things we don’t think are important to our lives are important.”

So much of Mr. Landseadel’s life surrounded nature. Many of his vacations with his wife and daughters were to places like Yellowstone National Park.

He was born May 10, 1922, to William and Marguerite Landseadel in the Bronx, N.Y.

In 1942, he received a landscaping architecture degree from the University of New York college of agriculture.

After college, he served as a training officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during World War II, rising to the rank of captain. During the war, he was one of five men who taught camouflaging, helping troops stay out of the enemy’s sight, Mrs. Hiett said.

While stationed in Venice, Fla., Mr. Landseadel met Shirley Knox; they married Sept. 15, 1944, at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.

The couple moved to Toledo in 1948 where they bought land on Secor Road, turning it into the Secor Landscape Co., which they operated until 1986.

In their 64 years of marriage, the couple oftentimes worked side-by-side, even doing a 15-minute Saturday morning gardening radio program, “Down to Earth,” on WSPD-AM from 1950 to 1972. Mrs. Landseadel died in 2009.

Mr. Landseadel was the architect and manager of the Toledo Flower Show for 24 years.

He owned and operated the Landseadel Christmas Tree Plantations for 17 years.

And he initiated the Landseadel Supreme Red Tulip and Landseadel Frisky Red Rose, both grown in many countries.

Out of the garden, Mr. Landseadel played tennis and golf.

Every evening, Mr. Landseadel and Mrs. Hiett would listen to music during a home cocktail hour and discuss world events.

Surviving are daughters, Wendy Russell and Meg Staton; brother, William; four grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.

Visitation is 4-8 p.m. July 19 at Reeb Funeral Home where services will be at 11 a.m. July 20.

The family suggests tributes to the Sylvania Youth Conservation Corps or a charity of the donor’s choice.

Contact Taylor Dungjen at: tdungjen@theblade.com or 419-724-6054.