A Temperance man was killed in a one-vehicle accident Friday morning in Perrysburg Township, the Ohio State Highway Patrol reported Saturday morning.

Dennis Amrhein, 73, a partner at both Grogan's Towne and Charlie’s Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, was driving a 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee northbound on Interstate 75 near milepost 196 when he drove off the left side of the roadway into the median and struck a concrete bridge pillar.

The sudden death surprised Ken Millen, a sales manager at Charlie’s in Maumee who had worked with Mr. Amrhein for the past 20 years.

“He will be missed,” said Mr. Millen, who commented that his usually upbeat friend had still been mourning the recent death of his wife of 40 years, Shirley, on Sept. 17.

“He would come in and say hi, but he didn’t have that hop in his step,” Mr. Millen said.

Mr. Amrhein, who graduated from Central Catholic High School, began selling cars in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and noted in a 2019 Blade interview that he had seen much change in business transactions over the years.

“People used to drive around looking for cars. They’d go from store to store to store. Then they‘d go in to test drive one, take it for a ride, figure they’d be there for an hour or two to negotiate the deal and then get financing,” Mr. Amrhein said. “Today almost everyone goes onto the Internet first to find the car they want ... Then 90 percent of those people call the dealers to negotiate over the phone.”

Mr. Millen said Mr. Amrhein will be remembered as a generous man who could be firm but fair. He always stressed transparency with customers.

“He treated his employees fairly,” said Mr. Millen. “They were the most important thing to him.”

Apart from work, Mr. Amrhein enjoyed meeting with buddies from high school for lunch at Rick’s City Diner, and cheering at the horse races.

An avid basketball fan, Mr. Amrhein once recounted that one of the highlights of his life was when his son was playing the sport in high school and college.

First Published December 3, 2022, 3:23 p.m.