Bernhardt A. "Bernie" Zeiher

1929 - 2019

(News story) Bernhardt A. "Bernie" Zeiher, who as longtime head of Parkview Hospital forged a place for the Old West End facility in osteopathic medical associations and on the northwest Ohio health-care scene, died Sunday at Ohio Living Swan Creek, where he lived for more than five years. He was 89.

He had cerebral atherosclerosis, his daughter Mary Nungester said. Formerly of Sylvania Township and West Toledo, Mr. Zeiher for a decade in retirement served on the board of what was then Ohio Presbyterian Retirement Services, and was present for the groundbreaking of Swan Creek in the early 1990s.

Mr. Zeiher retired in 1991 as president and chief executive of Parkview, more than 26 years after he was named the hospital's administrator. The osteopathic hospital opened in 1946. It closed in 1994.

"Bernie Zeiher and Parkview, the name and the hospital, are synonymous," said W. Scott Fry, president and chief executive of the Hospital Council of Northwest Ohio. "He was extraordinarily patient oriented. He was universally respected by his colleagues.. The man with the trademark bow tie will certainly be missed.''

Mr. Zeiher, a former officer of the hospital council, served on the search committee when Mr. Fry was hired in 1985.

His daughter said: "He was very good at advancing the cause of osteopathic medicine. He held the banner up."

Mr. Zeiher oversaw expansions of the building, but "the thing that he was was most proud of was they were known in the neighborhood for good personal care," his daughter said.

"He was fair, and he had a sense of humor. You have to have it," said Laura Craig, who worked at the hospital for Gladieux Corp., which provided Parkview's food service. He, Mrs. Craig, and other Parkview retired department heads got together regularly to have lunch and reminisce.

His son, Bernie, who is a medical doctor, said he was impressed that his father stayed fresh in a hospital leadership role for so long, "because nowadays you don't see that as much.

"He was very committed and tried to better the hospital all along," his son said. "It was sad for him when it closed. He put his heart and soul and so much of his career in it."

Mr. Zeiher was a former president of the Ohio Osteopathic Hospital Association and a regional trustee of the American Osteopathic Hospital Association, from which he received the award of merit. He was a former chairman of the American College of Osteopathic Hospital Administrators, of which he was a fellow.

He was born Sept. 27, 1929, in Sandusky to Mary and Bernhardt G. Zeiher. He was a 1947 graduate of St. Mary's High School. He received a bachelor of social science degree from Georgetown University and a master of hospital administration degree from Northwestern University. He was named assistant director of Toledo's Riverside Hospital and assistant administrator of St. Mary's Hospital in Huntington, W.Va. in 1959.

He was a former vice president and board member of Sylvania Country Club.

He and the former Nancy Farrell married in June, 1951. She died Feb. 22, 1987. He and the former Joan Thorpe married in June, 1989. She died March 9, 2012.

Surviving are his daughters Mary Nungester, Ann Appling, and Bernice Gust; son, Bernhardt G. Zeiher; 11 grandchildren, and 15 great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 2-8 p.m. Friday at Urbanski Funeral Home on Secor Road, with a recitation of the Rosary at 3 p.m. and a vigil service at 7 p.m. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday in Christ the King Church, where he was a member for 55 years.

The family suggests tributes Ohio Living Swan Creek or Christ the King Church.

This is a news story by Mark Zaborney. Contact him at mzaborney@theblade.com or 419-724-6182.