Allan J. Chabler (1935-2016)

Lawyer worked for Ohio, Lucas Co.

11/18/2016

Allan J. Chabler, a Toledo lawyer for more than 50 years who was an assistant Ohio attorney general and an attorney for the Lucas County recorder’s office, died Wednesday in Heartland at ProMedica Flower Hospital. He was 81.

His death was unexpected. He’d undergone hip surgery two weeks ago after a fracture and may have suffered a pulmonary embolism, his daughter Jacqueline said. He’d been a daily runner and exercised at the Jewish Community Center.

He closed his law office about five years ago, but still practiced from his Sylvania Township home until retiring three years ago.

“He was a very conscientious attorney and enjoyed trial law, all aspects of the law field,” said his twin brother, Jerry, a businessman and Democratic Party activist who served for 12 years on the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority. “He always wanted to become an attorney, ever since we were youngsters.”

Mr. Chabler had an abiding interest in politics — and helping people, his wife, Ellen, said.

“When he first started out, he gave me a book about Sacco and Vanzetti, and wrote in it, ‘I will prevent this kind of injustice,’ ” his wife said, referring to the anarchists whose execution in 1927 became a cause celebre among those who believed they were targeted as immigrants and wrongfully convicted.

Mr. Chabler received a bachelor of arts degree in 1957 and a law degree in 1961, both from the University of Toledo. He was a founding member in 1960 of the Coke Chapter of Phi Alpha Delta, a law fraternity.

“He was very sincere, and juries could see that,” his wife said. “He was the old-fashioned general lawyer you went to for everything.”

Peers knew him to be thorough and conscientious, said his cousin Joe Wittenberg, also a lawyer. “He treated every client with respect, no matter their station in life,” he said.

During the tenures of Ohio Attorneys General William Brown and Anthony Celebrezze, Jr., Mr. Chabler was an assistant attorney general in Toledo. He represented the state in land acquisition and workers’ compensation cases.

His knowledge of the Ohio Revised Code aided the county recorder’s office, said Jeanine Perry, recorder from 2007-13, for whom he worked.

“He solved problems,” Mrs. Perry said.

He was born Jan. 11, 1935, to Sara and Harry Chabler and grew up on Vermont Avenue. He was a 1953 graduate of Scott High School.

“Being a twin, you have a special affinity toward one another,” his brother Jerry said. “The saddest part about this, I can never say again, ‘I’m a twin brother.’ ‘I’m so proud of my twin brother.’”

Surviving are Mr. Chabler’s wife, Ellen, whom he married Aug. 31, 1958; daughters, Leslie Miller, Jacqueline Morris Bell, and Sue Macklis; son, Michael Chabler; brothers, Seymour and Jerry Chabler, and eight grandchildren.

Services will be at 1:30 p.m. Sunday in Congregation B’nai Israel, Sylvania Township, where he was a member. Arrangements are by the Robert H. Wick/​Wisniewski Funeral Home.

The family suggests tributes to Planned Parenthood, the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, or Congregation B’nai Israel.

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