Robert E. Samsen

1929 - 2022

News story
By Mark Zaborney
Blade staff writer

GENOA, Ohio - Robert E. Samsen, who founded a furniture and accessories business that has furnished northwest Ohio homes for more than 65 years, died Saturday at Hospice of Northwest Ohio on South Detroit Avenue in Toledo. He was 93.

He had vascular dementia and had been in declining health in recent years, his daughter Martha Thornberry said.

He retired about eight years ago from Samsen Furniture on State Rt. 51 near Genoa.

"He was a very smart businessman, and anyone who worked with him respected him a lot," said his son Doug Samsen, company president, who went to work for his father full time in the early 1980s.

The business began in the early 1950s, when Mr. Samsen with the help of his father, Walter, bought the Burman family's downtown Genoa furniture store and mortuary. He didn't pursue the mortuary business and instead offered a full line of furniture, from sofas to baby cribs, lamps, and for a time appliances.

"He literally knew nothing about the furniture business," the younger Mr. Samsen said. He listened to and learned from industry representatives and developed a reputation for quality furniture at a good price.

"He worked hard and watched his pennies and grew," his son said.

Ms. Thornberry said: "He was the visionary of the company."

In the early 1970s, the store moved to new quarters on Route 51. He remained hands-on, from building display walls to helping design print ads and coordinate commercials. He made a point of visiting furniture trade shows in High Point, N.C., and Chicago.

"He enjoyed the hunt for good values and the process of trying to fuel the business with the right products," the younger Mr. Samsen said.

He also liked to visit customers' homes to measure for new carpet, saying, "It gets me out of the office and I get to talk to people," Ms. Thornberry recalled.

For several years, starting in 1977, he operated Samsen Sleep Shop in Maumee, which specialized in beds, mattresses, and sleep-related furnishings. From the late 1990s until 2012, he operated Fine Designs sofa gallery in Sylvania. Fine Designs also had a location on State Rt. 25 across from Levis Commons, starting in 2007. It operated as a Samsen Outlet store from 2009-15.

"He was an entrepreneur. He liked to think and plan and develop something different," his son said.

He was most proud that the business could be sustained, "that it moved up from a small downtown location to a highway and made the jump from a small store to one that was regionally respected," Mr. Samsen said. "He enjoyed being his own boss. He enjoyed the whole process of creating something."

His father was a hard-working butcher and meat market owner in Clay Center, Ohio, where he grew up.

"It was built into him to work hard, and he was driven to succeed," Mr. Samsen said.

He was born Feb. 15, 1929, in Clay Center to Mabel and Walter Samsen. He was a star athlete at Genoa High School, setting a school record in the 100-yard dash and becoming a state champion in the long jump and runner-up in the 100-yard dash. He was a four-year letter winner in football. His team took the county championship two of those years.

In 1998, he was in the inaugural class of inductees to Genoa's athletic hall of fame.

He received a scholarship to play football at Purdue University. He contracted polio, which closed his athletic career. He completed his education, received a degree in aviation management - and learned to fly. He piloted a small plane for several years thereafter.

He and his wife enjoyed trips to Maui, England, Egypt, and Spain and winters at their house in Florida.

"He had a lot of adventures," Ms. Thornberry said. "He enjoyed company and good talk and laughed all the time and smoked cigars. He liked to sit back and have friends and family over. He was a modest man."

Surviving are his wife, the former Joan Suydam, whom he married Oct. 3, 1953; sons Gerald Samsen and Douglas Samsen; daughters Patricia Skwarcan and Martha Thornberry; 12 grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 2-8 p.m. Sunday at the Robinson-Walker Funeral Home, Genoa. Funeral services will begin at 11 a.m. Monday at the Trinity United Methodist Church, Genoa.

The family suggests tributes to the Humane Society of Ottawa County, Port Clinton.