Michael Robert Dearth, a community activist and four-time chairman of Toledo Block Watch, died Friday in Mercy Health St. Vincent Medical Center. He was 64.

He died of a previously unknown heart condition, his significant other, Jane Mullikin, said.

He was born May 1, 1952, in Toledo to Robert and Joanne Dearth. In recent years, he became very active in civil service and served on a number of boards.

“My kids called him ‘Captain Community,’ ” said older sister Cheryl Schwanger of Toledo.

Most notably, Mr. Dearth was dedicated to the Toledo Block Watch program, serving first as an area leader and then elected as the citywide chairman of Toledo Block Watch four times beginning in 2004.

Ms. Mullikin, the Block Watch area leader for Library Village, met Mr. Dearth through the program 16 years ago.

She said the program would not be what it is today without his influence.

“He refined and defined and shaped it,” she said. “Mike gave 110 percent to everything he did. If he committed to something, he was going to do it.”

During his seven years as chairman, he helped create the organization’s working rules and facilitated the Block Watch program’s partnership with the Toledo Fire Department to help distribute smoke detectors to residents in need.

“It’s something he truly enjoyed and he really thought he was making a difference,” Ms. Mullikin said.

The Toledo program was nationally recognized in 2008 with the Award of Excellence by a Neighborhood Watch Group, given by the National Sheriff’s Association, during Mr. Dearth’s tenure as chairman.

He was later named Toledoan of the Year in Leadership in 2008, and presented with a resolution by Toledo City Council and a key to the city in 2010 after declining to seek re-election as chairman.

“He was so proud of that, especially the national award,” Ms. Mullikin said. “In that year, we were the only Block Watch to receive that award. And there was some personal recognition there for him too.”

Mr. Dearth’s service wasn’t limited to Block Watch. He also served on the Lucas County Citizens Corps Council, the Small Business Task Force, the Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee, the Alexis Road Task Force, the 43612 Neighborhood Beautification Committee, and the Ottawa-Jermain Park Advisory Board.

He also graduated from the FBI Citizens Academy and subsequently served on the FBI Citizens Advisory Board.

“This is his home, the 43612 area,” Ms. Mullikin said, referring to the neighborhood’s ZIP Code. “He got out there and did things.”

Aside from his day job of cleaning and maintaining draft beer systems as the owner and operator of Tom’s Coil Cleaning, Mr. Dearth was also an accomplished musician and singer.

“He taught himself to play guitar, maybe in his teens,” Ms. Schwanger said. “There was always music.”

He loved blues and progressive rock.

He was a member of a few bands over the years including The Wolftones, Rebels Without Applause, and the Sugar Daddy$.

He recorded two solo albums, God, Women, and the Blues and Haunted Heart.

He passed his love of music on to his three nephews and Ms. Mullikin’s three children, and was a role model to all of them.

“He was always here for us, always,” Ms. Schwanger said. “He was just like a father to them, and he just kind of fell into it. He didn’t have children of his own, but he’s always got mine and Jane’s.”

Mr. Dearth graduated from Whitmer High School in 1970, and was an alumnus of both Ohio State and Bowling Green State universities.

He is survived by his mother, Joanne Dearth; sister, Cheryl Schwanger; and significant other, Jane Mullikin.

Memorial visitation will be at 3 p.m. Saturday at H.H. Birkenkamp Funeral Home, followed by the sharing of memories beginning at 5 p.m.

Contact Alexandra Mester: amester@theblade.com, 419-724-6066, or on Twitter @AlexMesterBlade.

First Published October 4, 2016, 4:00 a.m.