Ralph B. Wenner

1929 - 2011

(News Article) A former Ottawa Hills businessman who was as comfortable solving problems on the floor of his fabrication shop as he was in a board room making a sales call, died Wednesday in Naples, Fla. Ralph B. Wenner's wife, Marilyn, said the cause of death was heart-related. Mr. Wenner was 82.

Mr. Wenner owned Bauer-Wenner Inc., a distributor of industrial rubber and plastic products and later founded Automation Belting Corp. so he could solve his customers' problems by manufacturing custom-made conveyor belts, Mrs. Wenner said.

Mr. Wenner was an engineer at heart, though he had no formal training.

In 1977, he built a steamboat replica of the vessel in the Humphrey Bogart movie African Queen. His copy was the result of his fondness for the film and his love of boating, his family said.

"He wasn't an engineer, but he really liked to build things himself," said his son, Thomas, who worked for his father.

Daughter Susan Steves said Mr. Wenner wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty and fit in well with his shop workers.

Thomas Wenner said his father built the steam-powered boat from the waterline up. He found a boiler and steam engine in Florida and hired a designer to build the fiberglass hull. The vessel's maiden voyage was a four-mile trip up the Maumee River. After determining the vessel was seaworthy, Mrs. Wenner said the boat was trucked to Florida, where the couple had a condominium. He later sold it to a boat dealer there.

The couple enjoyed being on the water and kept boats at their cottage at Devils Lake, Mich., as well as at their Florida condominium.

After building the steamboat, he began constructing an electric car, using the chassis of a replica 1929 Mercedes-Benz packed with batteries and a motor, Thomas Wenner said. General Motors provided engineering help in exchange for the data Mr. Wenner gathered in operating the vehicle, his son said.

"That car is still operating today," Mr. Wenner's son said.

Mr. Wenner developed a hydraulic boat lift for the docks at Devils Lake that operated on lake water.

In 1978, after he retired from day-to-day operations, he devised a dock barrier that was designed to break boat wakes. The Wake Brake, which used production materials from his Automation Belting Corp., was installed at his condo in South Florida.

The Bauer-Wenner firm was acquired by his son Thomas and J. Kenneth Sofalvi, the firm's vice president, in 1980. Bauer-Wenner, at Westwood and Hill avenues was later sold to the Binkleman Corp., where it continues today.

Automation Belting, founded in 1962, has since changed hands several times, Thomas Wenner said.

The younger Mr. Wenner called his father "a hard-charging man and also a good coach. He was always willing to coach his employees."

Daughter Susan Steves said her father suffered a heart attack in 1979, prompting the decision to retire. The doctors had told him he'd only have a short time to live, she said.

A Toledo native, Mr. Wenner graduated from Ottawa Hills High School in 1946 and from the University of Toledo with a business administration degree in 1950.

He met his future wife while working part time at Owens-Corning and attending UT. Mrs. Wenner said she was working there, and company executives introduced the couple at a Christmas party.

They married in 1951.

Mr. Wenner had owned three gas stations before teaming up with Earl Bauer, a former car dealer, in 1956 to form the industrial distribution company that carried their names. He became president in 1960 and later its sole shareholder.

Mr. Wenner was active in Hope Lutheran Church in Ottawa Hills and served as president of its parish council.

He is survived by his wife, Marilyn; son, Thomas; daughter, Susan Steves, and three grandchildren. A son, Scott, preceded him in death.

A memorial service is planned in Ottawa Hills at a later date.

Contact writer Jim Sielicki at: jsielicki@theblade.com, or 419-724-6050.