Former Findlay assistant prosecutor dies in crash
7/10/2014SANDUSKY — A Findlay man was killed and his wife was injured Wednesday on U.S. 6 in Erie County’s Margaretta Township when their sport utility vehicle drove off the road and struck a mailbox, a road sign, and two trees.
Ralph Russo, 63, was pronounced dead at the scene, troopers at the Ohio Highway Patrol’s Sandusky post said. He was westbound on U.S. 6 near Northwest Road about 1 p.m. when his vehicle crossed the center line and left the road.
His wife, Nancy Moody Russo, 68, was flown to the University of Toledo Medical Center, the former Medical College of Ohio, hospital. A UT spokesman said she is in critical condition.
Mr. and Mrs. Russo were wearing seat belts. The crash remained under investigation.
Mr. Russo was a lawyer and a partner in the Findlay firm Betts, Miller & Russo. He had been an assistant county prosecutor and an acting judge in Findlay Municipal Court. He had been a president of the Hancock County Bar Association and chairman of the county Republican Party.
Mrs. Russo is a lawyer who has been affiliated with the Toledo firm Marshall & Melhorn. She’d been an MCO trustee and is clinical coordinator of the physician assistant program at the University of Findlay.