Michael P. Sbrocchi

1929 - 2021

(News story) Michael P. Sbrocchi, who as Toledo's commissioner of maintenance and public buildings oversaw every city-owned structure from daily upkeep to major remodeling, died Friday at Kingston of Sylvania, where he'd been for about three years. He was 91.

He had vascular dementia, his son Michael said.

A longtime West Toledo resident, Mr. Sbrocchi took miles-long daily walks for years in retirement.

"It was hard to keep up with him," his son said. When as an octogenarian he would set out for Franklin Park Mall, he'd say, " 'I don't walk in the mall. I walk around the mall. Too many old people in there,'" his son recalled.

Mr. Sbrocchi started working for the city in 1951 - his first job was collecting garbage - and retired more than 35 years later.

"He worked his way up," said his son, a retired Toledo fire inspector and later a major with the sheriff's office reserve.

Mr. Sbrocchi had been a sidewalk inspector and a building and construction inspector. He served through his career in engineering and water divisions. He became superintendent of the water reclamation division's ditch maintenance section, which he organized when it was created in 1968. Nine years later, then-City Manager Walter Kane named him commissioner of maintenance and public buildings.

"He was responsible for every building the city of Toledo owned, including supplies and maintenance," his son said. "He was just good at it.

Mr. Sbrocchi oversaw the remodeling of the Safety Building and the construction of Toledo Municipal Court and Fire Station 18 on Lewis Avenue, among other structures. He met the judges for breakfast and appeared before Toledo City Council to speak about his division's budget needs.

"He had a personality. He could talk to anybody about anything," his son said. "He'd put people in conversation."

Throughout his city career, Mr. Sbrocchi had at least one additional part-time job to help pay for his sons' schooling and other opportunities. As a refuse collector, he could leave when finished with his route and so worked second shift at the Willys-Overland plant. Later, he became a sales leader at Ottawa Hills Memorial Park.

In retirement, he flipped houses long before that pursuit was in vogue - buying dwellings at sheriff's sales, rehabbing them, and selling them. He also oversaw construction of homes for each of his sons.

"He built a house for each one of us and two for himself," his son said.

He was a founding member in the early 1950s of Christ the King Parish.

He was born July 30, 1929, in Italy to Clementina and Filippo Sbrocchi. He was 9 years old when he and his sisters and parents settled in the Birmingham neighborhood of East Toledo. He was a Golden Gloves boxer growing up and was a football running back at Waite High School.

He was an Army veteran, serving in Japan from 1946 until 1948.

His wife of nearly 70 years, the former Shirley Walker, died Oct. 21, 2020. Their son Timothy Sbrocchi died Nov. 1, 2018.

Surviving are his sons, Michael, Dr. Richard, and Thomas Sbrocchi; 10 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

Friends may visit the family Friday from 4-8 p.m. at the Walker Funeral Home, Sylvania Township, where masks and social distancing will be required. A funeral Mass will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at Christ the King Church. The Mass will be livestreamed via cktoledo.org.

The family suggests tributes to St. John's Jesuit High School, the Alzheimer's Association, or a charity of the donor's choice.

This is a news story by Mark Zaborney. Contact him at mzaborney@theblade.com.