Robert F. Burger

1934 - 2020

(News story) Robert F. Burger, who worked for a clean and rejuvenated Toledo, as head of a business association; as leader of a nonprofit organization, and as a city official, died Monday in his West Toledo home. He was 85.

He had a heart attack but also was dealing with Alzheimer's disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, said his wife, Antonia.

Mr. Burger retired in 2005 from the city of Toledo, where during Mayor Jack Ford's administration he had been a commissioner of special projects in economic and community development and for the parks department.

He came to city government in 1994, during the first year of Carty Finkbeiner's first term as mayor. His roles included overseeing demolition and nuisance abatement programs. A December, 1998, Blade article said he was known to some in city hall as the "demolition man," for his work in overseeing the removal of vacant and blighted buildings. When a house and garage in North Toledo were torn down that month, Mr. Burger had met the mayor's goal of 300 demolitions for 1998.

He became commissioner of neighborhoods. He often was at Mr. Finkbeiner's side as the mayor announced the next "dirty dozen" to focus on - dilapidated structures and the often absentee owners who let them deteriorate.

"Whatever Bob did, he was the man. He was a commanding physical presence," said Don Monroe, his nephew and a former business partner.

"He was a believer that the community could always improve itself," said Mr. Monroe, a former city economic development official and a former executive director of what became River East Revitalization Corp., which Mr. Burger helped found.

Mr. Burger was executive director, from 1978-1994, of Neighborhood Improvement Foundation of Toledo Inc., hired at the recommendation of the volunteer organization's founder, Wayne Snow.

"Robert was a great orator. He never had a problem raising funds," his wife said. "He was extremely organized, and he had an extreme amount of energy."

In those years at NIFTI, Mr. Burger estimated he marshaled volunteer forces to remove tons of trash and plant countless trees everywhere.

"You're always going to have a few greedy people who don't care about their surroundings who don't care how their actions affect others," he told The Blade in 1994.

That could get frustrating, he admitted. And then he pulled out a thank you card that read, "Thank you for helping us plant trees. Thank you for taking time to care."

"... You get these cards. And you realize that you've helped out someone, that you've cleaned up a corner of the city and made things a little brighter," Mr. Burger said in 1994.

He was born July 9, 1934, in Walbridge to Gertie and Raymond Burger. He attended Clay High School, briefly, before enlisting in the Army, Mr. Monroe said. He became a master sergeant and served in Europe.

He worked before and after the service for his uncle's business, Holland Window Cleaning. He and Mr. Monroe later were business partners in Suburban Cleaning Service.

He formerly was a state of Ohio deputy registrar and had a license agency in East Toledo.

He was a former leader of VFW Post 2510 and of the Arthur Daly American Legion Post.

His community service was recognized with local and national honors. Mr. Burger and Betty Mauk, the longtime downtown and clean water activist, in 1990 received "Hometown Pride" awards from Midwest Living magazine for their role in a Swan Creek cleanup.

He was preceded in death by his first wife, Jane Norman Burger.

Surviving are his wife, the former Antonia Thomas, whom he married June 11, 1970; daughters, Rebecca Bauerschmidt, Catherine Obert, Pamela Roman, Christine Creque, and Wendy Hottmann; son, Erich Burger; sisters, Gerry Kline, Doris Levy, Joyce Hosley, and Donna Oatley; nine grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 2-8 p.m. Sunday at Freck Funeral Chapel, Oregon, where a memorial service will begin at 10 a.m. Monday.

Instead of contributing to an organization, his wife said readers could "organize a neighborhood cleanup party wherever they live, in memory of Robert."

This is a news story by Mark Zaborney. Contact him at mzaborney@theblade.com or 419-724-6182.