Richard G. Moses

1939 - 2023

News story
By Mark Zaborney
Blade Staff Writer

Richard G. Moses, a retired residential developer and a partner in well-known Toledo-area subdivisions, who served a term as a former Sylvania Township trustee, died Monday in the memory care unit of Lakes of Monclova, Monclova Township. He was 84.

He had dementia and lived in Oak Leaf Village, Sylvania Township, until about three months ago, his daughter Amy Levison said. He and his late wife, Pat, called Sylvania Township home for decades.

He retired in 2012 as president and co-owner of the Moses-Schlachter Group, which has been responsible for dozens of residential developments since the late 1970s, said Tom Schlachter, his partner in the company.

"When I took over sole ownership, I never, ever considered dropping his name from the company, because he had such a good name," said Mr. Schlachter, now president of the firm. "He was part of it, and he's going to stay part of it."

The pair first worked together when they teamed with Robert Verbon in the late 1970s to develop St. James Wood, west of McCord Road and north of Bancroft Street in Sylvania Township, where more than 800 homes were built. Other residential developments in Sylvania Township and elsewhere followed.

"Dick was always in the field, overseeing construction of in-ground improvements - sewer, water, pavement, etc. He knew every builder in town, and he did quite a bit of the marketing to the builders and bringing them in as customers," Mr. Schlachter said.

Mr. Moses was a former president of the Home Builders Association of Greater Toledo and of the Ohio Home Builders Association. He also served on the board of the National Association of Home Builders.

"He had a personality that was bigger than St. James Wood. He didn't have a serious bone in his body," Mr. Schlachter said. "He was always up. Being in business as long as we were, not all days were good days. He kept his sense of humor through it all, and it helped buoy everyone around him."

When mortgage interest rates soared and the economy fell, as happened in the early 1980s, "he never stayed down," Mrs. Levison said. "He always found ways to make the dream work for him.

"The thing we remember is every single person he worked with liked him," she said. "He treated the man who swept out the houses the same as the banker who gave him the loan," she said.

In the 1980s, he and Gary Sloan were partners in commercial projects, including Somerset Plaza at Central Avenue and McCord Road.

He began his career in the late 1950s as a carpenter and worked for Kuhlman Corp., the construction supply firm. He later was a job-site superintendent for Robert Lloyd, who developed apartment complexes.

"Mr. Lloyd was such an influence on him and saw potential," Mrs. Levison said. "My dad was a risk taker, and with a little bit of encouragement and his willingness to risk, I think that's when it started."

His daughter Beth Bogdan said: "He loved going to work every morning."

His wife helped him maintain balance between career and his home life.

"[She] was instrumental in keeping his personal side and family life going smoothly," Mrs. Levison said. "He appreciated that."

Mr. Moses was elected to a four-year term as a Sylvania Township trustee in 1999, his first bid for public office. He did not win re-election four years later and his attempt to regain his seat in 2005 also was not successful.

"He liked the excitement. He liked the chase. He wanted to really help the community," Mrs. Levison said. "He wanted things to be fair."

Mr. Moses also was a former member of the Lucas County plan commission.

He was born June 25, 1939, to Mary Jean and James Moses. He grew up on Burnham Avenue in West Toledo, attended Macomber Vocational High School, and was a graduate of DeVilbiss High School. For decades, six couples connected by DeVilbiss - wives and husbands - met once a month for refreshments, cards, and conversation.

"It's closer than a club. It's like family," Mr. Moses told The Blade in 2010. "We're brothers and sisters. It's one big family, more than anything."

He and his wife traveled the world, often in connection with the business of the home-builders' groups on which he served. He enjoyed boating on Lake Erie and had been a member of the Maumee River and Toledo yacht clubs. Later, a place on Devils Lake in Michigan became the family summer home.

"He lived a full life. He didn't have anything left on his bucket list," Mrs. Levison said. "He did it all."

He and his wife, the former Patricia Stuttle, married Aug. 5, 1962. She died May 20, 2010.

Surviving are his daughters Amy Levison and Beth Bogdan; son, Robert Moses; brother, James Moses; six grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

Services will be private. Arrangements are by Reeb Funeral Home, Sylvania.