Mary Lou Fox, who dazzled in business and fund-raising, built a pharmaceutical supply firm for nursing homes into a multimillion-dollar success and threw themed parties that drew raves and patrons, died Tuesday in ProMedica Toledo Hospital. She was 85.

She had developed complications of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, said Peter Taylor, whose marketing firm has done work for Mrs. Fox’s businesses and was a  friend.

Even with health problems, “she was not one who ever wanted to miss anything,” Mr. Taylor said. “If there was a good time to be had, she wanted to be part of it or host it. Nothing was going to hold her back.”

Nancy Bucci, a longtime associate and close friend said: “She was a force of nature.”

Mrs. Fox was a benefactor of St. John’s Jesuit High School, the Toledo Museum of Art, and the Toledo Symphony and served on the boards of St. John’s and the University of Toledo Foundation.

The events she planned made a splash — for St. John’s, Flowers on the Maumee, set on the Maumee River, and “Star Struck,” modeled on Hollywood awards shows.

The parties were “much the way she was, colorful and fun,” said the Rev. Don Vettese, a former president of St. John’s. Mrs. Fox also was on the board of the charity he founded, International Samaritan.

She was known as founder in 1976 of Westhaven Services, which provided pharmacy and related services to nursing homes and care facilities. Inc. magazine profiled Mrs. Fox and the rollercoaster challenges of her business in 1991.

She sold the business in 1992 to Omnicare Inc. The previous year, her company had sales of $22 million. She became a senior vice president and director of Omnicare and locally based president of its Westhaven subsidiary. She retired in 2004.

Mrs. Fox was honored as a northwest Ohio entrepreneur of the year in 1990 and received the Pioneer Award in 2002 from the Ohio Health Care Association. “She was a big thinker, a big idea person, and she built a great team,” said John Szuch, executive officer of Signature Bank.

Her late husband, William Fox, owned five Westhaven Drug Stores, and she encouraged him to start serving nursing homes, a market she knew through her work with the American Red Cross. He didn’t like the niche, and she asked to take over.

Adding a personal touch to win and keep clients became a hallmark. Early on, she included lottery tickets in letters to nursing home administrators she saw as prospects. When she phoned to ask whether they’d won, most took her call.

“They were curious about the person who left the tickets,” Mr. Taylor said.

With no college or business background, she read books and learned as she went.

“Sheer panic and fear are tremendous motivation,” Mrs. Fox told The Blade in 1990.

A maxim of hers was that success in business or selling arrived “when your customer and you get it,’” said Bert Brady, whom Mrs. Fox hired and who retired as sales director of national accounts of Omnicare. And getting “it” meant “they think you’re their best friend, and they’re yours. And they’re right,” Mr. Brady said.

She made sure she knew all she could about clients — favorite color, author, musician, children’s names — and developed a computer system so those who handled the account knew too.

“That epitomized her success,” Ms. Bucci said. “Her clients were her friends.”

Mrs. Fox most recently was chief executive of KYSO, which stands for “Knock Your Socks Off,” a marketing firm for health care companies that serve nursing homes, said Ms. Bucci, a co-founder of the business. The pair collaborated on a yet-to-be published book about Mrs. Fox’s life and experiences.

“Mary Lou was my best friend,” Ms. Bucci said. “She was a mentor to many people, many who started their own businesses. Every day we think, ‘What would Mary Lou say?’ because she had so many Mary Lou-isms that just directed us”

Among them, Ms. Bucci recalled: “Don’t get mad. Get even.” “Make exceptions.”

“Her biggest one was, ‘The customer was always right, most especially when they were wrong,’” Ms. Bucci said.

Born April 6, 1931, in Bridgeport, Ill., to Myra and Merle Thompson, she grew up in New Jersey, where her father worked at an Owens-Illinois plant. After high school, she worked in the office of the plant. She married and the family moved to Perrysburg, where she was a stay-at-home mother and volunteer.

She was formerly married to the late William Rheinfrank Foley. She and William Fox married June 8, 1967. He died May 29, 1991. Their son, William C. “Carty” Fox III died in 2004.

Surviving are her daughters, Myra and Ginna Foley; three grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.

Services will be private.

Contact Mark Zaborney at: mzaborney@theblade.com or 419-724-6182.

First Published January 6, 2017, 5:00 a.m.