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Longtime attorney/educator Robert E. Mohler remembered
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: August 11, 2015
There’s a saying that goes, “If you live long enough, you will see everything.”
Longtime Akron attorney and educator Robert Emerson Mohler may not have experienced it all, but he did impact the lives of many in Summit County during his 102 years.
Mohler passed away on July 10 at the West Akron retirement facility Rockynol.
“My father was a very good dad,” said Jocelyn Lance, one of Mohler’s three children.
“He was a very fair and judicious man who believed in hard work.
“He enjoyed spirited debate, reading his law journals and visiting historical sites.”
“My father was very firm and ‘old school,’” said Roger, the oldest of Mohler’s three children. “He wasn’t much for giving out praise because he thought it made you complacent. He provided us with a good life though, put us through school and made us proud.”
Born in Akron on Aug. 14, 1912 to parents Reuben A. Mohler Jr. and Pearl Carter Mohler, he devoted much of his life to public service.
Mohler attended Garfield High School. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in political science from The University of Akron, Mohler took a job as a civics teacher at the old Central High School in Akron. During his 10 years of teaching, he also worked on and received a master’s degree in political science from The Ohio State University and got a law degree while attending Akron Law in the evenings.
After getting his juris doctor, he served as an assistant prosecutor in Summit County and made an unsuccessful bid for the Ohio General Assembly.
Mohler spent 17 years as an attorney at Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, where he handled trademark and employment law cases. Ironically Firestone was right across the street from the South Akron home where Mohler was born.
During his years at Firestone, Mohler was very active in the Democratic Party, running for mayor of Akron and serving as a delegate to the 1968 National Convention in Chicago. While he lost his battle against longtime Akron Mayor John Ballard, Mohler spent 12 years on the Akron Board of Education, serving as president for four of those years, said Roger.
In 1952, Mohler was president of the Summit County Juvenile Court Advisory Committee.
“Robert was my criminal law professor at Akron Law School in 1953,” said former Akron Law Director Max Rothal. “I thought he did an excellent job. He answered questions presented to him in depth.
“When he ran for mayor in 1967, I was on his election committee. I recall one of the issues that he was pushing for was gun registration. He wanted to introduce an ordinance that would require residents to register their guns.
“He was very business-like, but friendly and cordial. I think he was a very knowledgeable and prepared candidate,” said Rothal. “It just wasn’t his time.”
Mohler’s son Roger said his father retired from Firestone in 1970 to take over as Summit County Prosecutor. He was appointed to the position because Jim Barbuto became a common pleas judge. He held the spot for one year but lost his bid for re-election.
Akron sole practitioner Gerald Glinsek was an assistant prosecutor when Mohler was prosecutor.
“I thought he was very even-handed in the way he dealt with people,” said Glinsek. “He came into a situation where there was turmoil in the office and he was very effective in bringing the office together and carrying out the responsibilities that the county prosecutor had.
“I left while Robert was still in office to set up a private practice,” said Glinsek. “After that we lost touch. I would occasionally see him at bar functions over the years.”
“I’ve known Robert since the late ‘60s,” said Democratic Ohio Sen. Tom Sawyer. “Although he had a long and varied career, most prominently as an attorney, he was first and foremost a teacher.
“He began as a teacher and I would say he continued to teach everyone he came into contact with throughout his life and career,” said Sawyer. “I mean that in the best sense.”
Mohler went into private practice after his stint as prosecutor, waging an unsuccessful campaign for municipal court judge during the ‘70s.
“I have always thought that my dad would have been a good judge,” said Lance. “He had a strong belief in equality and fairness.”
Mohler stopped practicing at age 89.
The lifelong Akron resident was a member of several civic organizations, including serving as president of the Summit County Historical Society.
“My father was a recognized authority on the history of Akron,” said Roger.
In 2002, Mohler was honored by the Akron Bar Association for being one of the longest practicing attorneys in the area.
“Ten years later, my dad was recognized for being a bar member for 65 years,” said Lance.
“I became acquainted with Mr. Mohler in the early ‘80s when I was young attorney,” said Summit County Court of Common Pleas Judge Thomas Teodosio. “I would often join Bob and other experienced attorneys for lunch and it was always a pleasure to talk to Bob about sports, legal issues, politics and his political career.”
“Robert Mohler came into my life about 23 years ago when he was around 80,” said Ernie Tarle, Mohler’s step-grandson.
“At the time, I was running for Akron City Council in the newly-drawn Ward 5 and Mr. Mohler was practicing law. I won the Democratic primary but was thrown off the ballot when my opponent challenged my residency.
“Mr. Mohler came up with the undisputable legal rationale why I should be on the ballot for the general election,” said Tarle. “In the end the Supreme Court of Ohio restored me to the ballot and I won the general election and became the Ward 5 councilman.
“He always fought for the underdog,” said Tarle.
Mohler’s fascination and love of history, especially the Civil War, led him to take his family on numerous trips.
“He would take car trips across the country,” said Roger. “We ended up visiting almost all the Civil War battlefields and historical sites long before we ever studied them in school. It made learning about them a little easier since we remembered what it was like to be there.”
“Dad took his one week of summer vacation for our trips,” said Lance. “Most of the time we only spent one day at the place or site we were visiting.
“He also liked to combine things so everything had a purpose. One of our vacations was combined with teaching me how to drive,” said Lance. “We almost went to Cuba before it was closed. Dad took us to Key West intending to take the ferry to Cuba but it was more money than he thought it would be so we did not go.”
Roger said his father always had a way of making people who stopped by their home feel very welcome. “My dad would ask them questions so he could come up with ideas to discuss.
“He was fearless,” said Roger. “I remember one time a woman was playing the piano at Rockynol where he lived. She was not doing well and one of the other residents made a snide remark. He told him in no uncertain terms to shut up.”
In 2012 Mohler’s wife Marian passed away at Rockynol. The two were married for 76 years.
“My parents met during freshman English class at The University of Akron,” said Lance.
“My father was a man of many words and my mother was more concise. They had an assignment and my mother got an ‘A’ and my father got an ‘A-minus.’ He had written a lot more and couldn’t understand why she did better than him.”
Lance said her younger sister, Janice, served as an advocate for both parents in their later years and during their time at Rockynol.
According to his son, one of the ways Mohler kept himself occupied during the difficult loss of his wife was by reading history books and bar journals, as he had done most of his life.
“He never read a novel,” said Roger. “He always wanted to read facts. Towards the end of his life, he developed inoperable cataracts. In the last year or two, he could no longer read which made him pretty miserable.”
“I remember when I was a girl, my dad would read these little green law journals every night,” said Lance. “We wound up binding all of them together at the end of every year so he would have a book for every year he practiced law. I think he continued to do that well into his ‘90s.”
“My father was healthy most of his life, something he attributed to working in the yard even at age 90,” said Roger. “He would climb ladders and clean out gutters even though we asked him not to do it.
“He also loved watching sports. He was a big fan of the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Browns. Despite being 5-foot-4 he played football when he was younger,” said Roger. “He was also a faithful Indians fan.”
He said when his father quit being interested in Ohio State football he knew his dad’s health was dramatically declining.
A memorial was held in the chapel at Rockynol on West Market Street on July 18.
Mohler is survived by son, Roger Mohler (LaVerne) of Akron; daughters, Jocelyn Lance (James) of Richmond, Virginia and Janice Grove (James) of Akron; grandchildren, Gregory Mohler (Carol) of Atlanta, Georgia, Eric Mohler (Melanie) of Lake Villa, Illinois, Kevin Mohler of Portland, Oregon, Brian Lance (Anne) of Cincinnati, Ohio, Stephanie Lance and Christopher Lance (Melissa) of Richmond, Jeffrey Grove (Kathleen) of Avon Lake, Ohio, Jason Grove (Morgan) of Washington, D.C.; step-grandson Ernie Tarle (Amy) of Akron and numerous great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his wife Marian, his younger sister LaVonne and his parents.