Peter D. Kasper

1958 - 2022

By Mark Zaborney
Blade Staff Writer

Peter D. Kasper, a star running back at Whitmer High School whose drive propelled him past injury, onto the gridiron at the University of Toledo, and into the executive ranks at Libbey Glass, died Feb. 9 in hospice care at Doctors Hospital, Sarasota, Fla. He was 63.

He'd been dealing with multiple myeloma since December, 2019, his wife, Karen Kasper, said. He had undergone chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant. Radiation therapy was to have been next.

To family, friends, and colleagues, brother-in-law Doug Ritson said, "he was the toughest guy we knew both athletically and in business. He just didn't give up. He had an innate ability to tackle whatever difficulty there was."

Mr. Kasper retired in 2012 from Libbey Glass, where as vice president of food service marketing he oversaw new product development, trade shows, and marketing programs.

"We worked together over 30 years. We worked arm in arm there for a long time," said Dan Ibele, a retired officer of the company, who was general manager for the United States and Canada. "In his entire career, Pete was a very dynamic and energetic person. He brought a high level of energy to everything he did.

"He was instrumental in major programs for the company," Mr. Ibele said.

As in his sports career, he was determined, his wife said.

"Whatever he did, he excelled," she said. "He was not real outgoing, but he was a perfectionist."

Mr. Kasper majored in marketing at UT, from which he received a bachelor of business administration degree. He started afterward in sales at Libbey, where his father had worked for years. His career took the family to the Detroit area, to Los Angeles, and to southwestern Ontario when he was general sales manager for Canada.

"He was affable in the right circles," Mr. Ritson said. "He could work with all kinds of personalities and could easily delegate and identify people's abilities and what their strengths were."

He was born Nov. 24, 1958, to Beverly and Peter D. Kasper and started playing football as a boy, following the lead of his older brother Rob.

"His talents were remarkable. He was kind of heads and shoulders above all his players when he was little," said Pat Gucciardo, his football coach at Whitmer.

That translated to stellar performance as a Whitmer running back.

"He was a great high school player," Mr. Gucciardo said. "He did it all. He punted. He returned punts. He ran the ball like a demon - probably one of the best backs at least in northwest Ohio and for sure one of the top 10 in Ohio at the time."

Mr. Ritson recalled his future brother-in-law's power, speed, agility, and balance.

"He had this ability to center his weight in such a way that you couldn't knock him off balance," Mr. Ritson said. "He was able to spin and move with the best of them. It was absolutely awesome."

Former Blade sports writer Duane Schooley wrote in 1980: "His slashing running style made him appear almost unstoppable."

After a brilliant junior season, All-Ohio honors were not beyond his grasp, wrote John Hannen, Blade executive sports editor in 1977.

Then Mr. Kasper suffered a broken leg in practice the week before the first game of his senior year. He was out for the season, but remained very much a part of the team, despite his crutches and cast.

Because of his credentials, academic and athletic, Mr. Kasper was named a scholar-athlete by the Toledo chapter of the National Football Foundation, although he did not play his senior year.

After his injury, he took up weight lifting, even entering body building contests, his wife said.

"He saw the results of lifting weights. He never skipped another day. That was his priority every day, to work out," his wife said.

A 1977 Whitmer graduate, he had letters in football, track, and wrestling.

He received a football scholarship to UT, but hadn't been able to regain his former speed. He switched positions, to middle guard his junior year, and by his senior year started every game.

"I've done what I can do and now it's time to do something else," Mr. Kasper told The Blade in 1980 before his final game. "You can't try to relive old dreams. You have to take what you've learned, apply it so you can become a better man, and carry on."

He and his wife divided their years between Sylvania Township and Sarasota and had a Hillsdale County lake home. Each residence had a gym stocked with equipment he made or modified, his wife said.

Surviving are his wife, the former Karen Ritson - his high school sweetheart - whom he married June 28, 1980; son, Peter Daniel Kasper III; daughter, Karly Rachko; brothers Rob Sharrow and Scott Kasper, and two grandchildren.

At Mr. Kasper's request, there will be no services. Arrangements are by Robert Toale and Sons Funeral Home at Palms Memorial Park, Sarasota.

Mr. Ritson said a memorial scholarship fund in Mr. Kasper's name is being set up through Whitmer.