Edwin F. Damschroder, 85, who owned the landmark downtown Toledo men's clothing store founded by his father, died of cancer Tuesday in Hospice of Northwest Ohio, Perrysburg Township.

He sold Damschroder's Inc. in 1980 to a partnership that included his son, Jim, as president. By then, the firm had expanded beyond its longtime, and sole, location downtown, 311 North Superior St., and had stores in Perrysburg and in Sylvania's Starlite Plaza.

Those locations have closed, and his son now operates Damschroder's Suit Connection, 5333 Monroe St.

Mr. Damschroder told The Blade in 2001 he was 13 when he began working part-time for his father, Edwin F., Sr., who started the store in 1916 at St. Clair and Adams streets. The store moved to Superior Street in 1931.

The downtown of 1935 was bustling, and with other men's shops a close walk away, each store strived to attract and keep customers.

"Competition was keen, and most customers back then were very price and quality-conscious," Mr. Damschroder told The Blade in 2001.

He had an appreciation for fabric and good tailoring, his daughter, Kiki Kossow, said.

"He was very much customer service-oriented, and he liked to help people make wise decisions," his daughter said. "He was that old school of customer service in a store, where salespeople had superior knowledge and could actually guide people into a good decision."

Mr. Damschroder grew up in the Old West End and was a 1940 graduate of Scott High School. He attended the University of Toledo.

He completed an aviation cadet program in the Navy and was a pilot, flying from the aircraft carrier USS Shangri-La in the Pacific.

He rejoined the business afterward. His father died July 30, 1959.

Mr. Damschroder was a former president of the University of Toledo Alumni Association. He received the Blue T award in recognition of his service to the university and the alumni association and, later, the 12th Man Award.

He was on the facilities committee of the Athletic Board of Control.

"He always loved and supported the University of Toledo," his daughter said.

He was a former chairman of Neighborhood Improvement Foundation of Toledo Inc. and a former trustee of what is now the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Damschroder and his wife, Dorothy, married in December, 1945. She died in January, 1995.

Surviving are his daughter, Kiki Kossow; son, Jim; sister, Meredith Damschroder; four grandchildren, and two great-grandsons.

There will be no visitation. Memorial services will be at 6:30 p.m. Sunday in Zoar Lutheran Church, Perrysburg, of which he was a longtime member. Arrangements are by the Witzler-Shank Funeral Home, Perrysburg.

The family suggests tributes to the Hospice of Northwest Ohio or the church.

First Published May 16, 2008, 9:30 a.m.