Article published November 14, 2009
THOMAS J. CLAUS, 1926-2009
Car sales chief had rapport with buyers
Thomas J. Claus, 83, a car salesman and dealership manager during a career spanning five decades, died Thursday in Toledo Hospital from complications of heart and vascular problems.
Mr. Claus of Sylvania retired in 1991 from Dave White Chevrolet.
"He was a very good sales manager, there wasn't any doubt about that," said Dave White, chairman of the dealership. "He was a smart guy and an able guy. I was disappointed when he retired."
He was hired in 1953 by Johnson Ford Sales, 802 Front St. He stayed when Frank Kistler bought the agency, making it Kistler Ford, and after the move to the former Bob Reese Motors showroom, 1115 Monroe St. He became sales manager and, in 1968, general manager.
In 1969, Kistler Ford became the first dealership on West Central Avenue in Sylvania Township, later known as the Central Avenue Strip.
Mr. Claus moved on in the late 1970s and sold cars for a time at George Ballas Buick-GMC, his wife, Carola, said."He was good at what he did because he had a good rapport with people," his wife said.
Mr. Claus grew up in West Toledo and was a 1944 graduate of Central Catholic High School.
A Navy veteran of World War II, he served in the Pacific aboard the USS Montpelier and attended Bowling Green State University.
Surviving are his wife, Carola, whom he married Aug. 7, 1954; son, Thomas, Jr.; daughter, Patricia Vagnoni; brothers, William, Bernard, and Peter; sister, Margery Shanks, and four grandchildren.
Memorial services will be at 11 a.m. today in St. Joseph Church, Sylvania, where he was a member.
Arrangements are by the Thomas I. Wisniewski Funeral Home.
The family suggests tributes to the American Heart Association.
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