Phillip J. Rudolph Sr.

1928 - 2025

News story
By Mike Sigov
Blade Staff Writer

Philip J. Rudolph, Sr., a decorated Air Force veteran of the Korean War who with a brother and a cousin founded a construction firm that built landmark buildings in northwest Ohio, died Oct. 26 at his Perrysburg Township home. He was 97.

He had a few medical conditions common to his age, his son, Philip Rudolph, Jr. said.

The elder Mr. Rudolph retired in 1993 after 38 years as vice president of Rudolph Libbe Inc., which he, his late brother, Frederick "Fritz" Rudolph, Sr., and their late cousin, Allan J. Libbe, started in 1955.

Landmarks built by the company include the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, the United Way headquarters, and the Glass Pavilion at the Toledo Museum of Art.

"My father's greatest accomplishment was neither his wartime service to his country nor his success as a businessman, although they were very important parts of his life," Phil Rudolph, Jr. said. "I think his greatest success was being a loving husband and a wonderful father to his children. We think of the many ways he helped us become successful adults, the example he set for us, and we have a lot of gratitude."

The elder Mr. Rudolph was a former president of Associated Building Contractors of Northwest Ohio. Over the years, he had also been on the boards of the Medical College of Ohio Foundation, the Toledo Mud Hens, and what is now Owens Community College. He also was a former Parkview Hospital trustee and St. Luke's Hospital founding committee member.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he chaired the committee for the construction of the State Route 795/ I-75 and I-75/Ohio Turnpike interchanges in Perrysburg Township.

In 2013, Wood County commissioners named him the county's corporate citizen of the year.

Humble beginnings

The company started on the Rudolph family farm in Lake Township with just two employees and grew to 200 employees by 1971. The firm's first employee was Mr. Rudolph's father, the late John Rudolph.

Each of the firm's founders had construction experience, and that is the type of business they decided to try, Fritz Rudolph, Sr., told The Blade in 2005 upon the company's 50th anniversary.

"We started out with $2,500 between us," he said at the time.

To mark the firm's golden anniversary, more than 800 people attended a gala celebration at the Toledo Museum of Art.

The business began - and still has its headquarters - on the Rudolph family's farm land on Latcha Road in Lake Township.

An early job was a house addition for a family friend. Its first commercial project was a $68,000 addition to a post office in Bowling Green.

Through the years, the company's work included apartment complexes, churches, industrial plants, and warehouse buildings. By its 50th anniversary, about 450 people worked for Rudolph/Libbe Inc., the construction part of the business, which then had revenue approaching $200 million and was ranked 221 on a national list of the country's top contractors.

"It's a real great success story," Gary Haas, then vice president of contracts administration and an employee since the early 1960s, told The Blade in 2009.

Mr. Rudolph, his brother, and his cousin all agreed that their most memorable project was the Ritter Planetarium at the University of Toledo in 1967. "It was our first really complicated building," Fritz Rudolph, Sr., told The Blade in 2005.

"He loved to build things and to watch a building come out of the ground and come together," his son Bill said at the time.

Most recently, the company was hired by the Perrysburg Township trustees in 2024 to lead construction of a $3.7 million administration building.

The company, which pioneered "tilt up" and prefabricated construction techniques to reduce construction time and costs, has been consistently ranked by Engineering News-Record as one of the nation's Top 400 contractors for at least the past 24 years. In July the magazine ranked the company 76th based on its 2024 revenue of $1.731 billion.

Mr. Libbe told The Blade in 1971 he attributed part of the firm's success to the fact that two of the principals in the partnership, his cousins the Rudolph brothers, usually were in the field watching details and keeping tabs on the projects while all three of them were "all very conscious of costs."

Fighter pilot, family man

Born May 10, 1928, in Lake Township to Verna and John Rudolph, Philip J. Rudolph, Sr., graduated from Lake High School in 1946 and then attended Bowling Green State University, graduating in 1950 with a bachelor's degree in education.

Later that year, he joined the Air Force to fight in the Korean War.

Once he completed his pilot training, he was shipped to Korea, where he flew combat missions in an F-80 Shooting Star fighter-bomber until armed hostilities ended in 1953. He continued to serve until his honorable discharge in 1955 with the rank of first lieutenant.

While in service, he flew 100 missions.

His war decorations include the Distinguished Flying Cross, a medal given for "heroism or extraordinary achievement" in an aerial fight, and four Air Medals awarded for meritorious achievement in aerial flight.

After returning from Korea he married the former Iris Jones. She died in 2009. In 2017, he married the former Janice Whitehurst, who survives.

In his free time, Mr. Rudolph enjoyed spending time with his family and friends. He also liked to golf.

He was a member of St. John Lutheran Church in Troy Township.

He was a former member of the Toledo Country Club, the Toledo Club, the Carranor Hunt and Polo Club in Perrysburg, and the Feather Sound Country Club in Clearwater, Fla.

Along with his wife, Janice Rudolph, he is survived by his daughter, Eloise Wallace; son, Philip Rudolph, Jr.; sister, Kathleen Holzman; six grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

Visitation was Thursday at Witzler-Shank-Walker Funeral Home, Perrysburg, where funeral services were Friday.

The family suggests tributes to Hospice of Perrysburg, Owens Community College Foundation, or Adopt America Network.