Allen R. Mortemore

1934 - 2022

By Mark Zaborney
Blade Staff Writer

Allen R. Mortemore, a masonry contractor who worked on structures across northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan, especially gas stations, died Monday at Hospice of Northwest Ohio, South Detroit Avenue. He was 87.

For more than a year, he had amyloidosis - a condition in which proteins build up in organs and tissue - and suffered heart failure, his wife, Mary Mortemore, said.

Mr. Mortemore of Oregon retired in 1999, about four decades after he formed A.R. Mortemore Masonry Contractors. He was hired for residential projects, but service stations made up much of his work, his wife said. He also had a role as the Marco's Pizza headquarters on Monroe Street was built in the 1990s.

He came to his trade through doing various types of construction work as he returned to civilian life after Army service. Masonry work became his niche.

"He found what he was really good at," his wife said.

While operating his business, "he found good employees," his wife said, "and that's an important thing. And he was a good boss. When you create something with your hands and it looks great, it drives you on farther."

The former Perrysburg resident also was a leader in masonry contractors groups, including the Masonry Institute of Northwest Ohio.

He put his knowledge of building trades - roofing, boiler repairs - to use at his church, Christ United Methodist, in Oregon.

"If something needed to be done, he got on it," his wife said. He used those skills and volunteered his labor to the United Methodist ministries based at Henderson Settlement in rural southeastern Kentucky.

He was born June 29, 1934, to Cleo and Arthur Mortemore, the oldest of their three children, and grew up on Jackman Road in what was then Washington Township. He'd played baseball from childhood and at Whitmer High School was on the football team as well.

In 1952, Whitmer awarded him the Dale Crow Memorial Trophy, which was presented annually to the senior boy judged foremost in leadership, scholarship, athletic ability, and sportsmanship.

"He was a big brother, and was quite athletic and quite well known in school," his sister, Linda Bartholow, said. "He was just a nice, rounded young man."

He enlisted in the Army afterward, served in Sapporo, Japan, and became a corporal.

He played golf and enjoyed the camaraderie as much as the game, his wife said. He liked to refurbish old trunks and old milk cans he found at garage and yard sales. He offered the results of his creativity - "making something good out of something crummy," his wife said - to family members and friends.

His wife sews and makes quilts. Precision cutting was his specialty when they made quilts for each of their children.

A Mason, he'd been a member of Robinson Locke Lodge, F&AM. He also had been a member of Zenobia Shrine and served as a parade marshal.

He was formerly married to Pamela Wagner.

Surviving are his wife, the former Mary Nolt, whom he married June 26, 1993; daughters Jill Keiffer and Kelly Marshall; stepsons Jeff Bennett and Rich Bennett; stepdaughters Mary Beth DeSalvo, Jody Schilling, and Laura Kleinschmidt; sister, Linda Bartholow; brother Robert Mortemore; 22 grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 2-8 p.m. Friday at Eggleston, Meinert & Pavley Funeral Home, Millbury Chapel. Funeral services will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday at Christ United Methodist Church in Oregon, where the family will greet friends after 10 a.m.

A livestream of services will be available via egglestonmeinert.com by clicking on Mr. Mortemore's obituary, then the "tribute wall," and the live webcast.

The family suggests tributes to Christ United Methodist Church, Oregon; Henderson Settlement in care of the church, or Hospice of Northwest Ohio.