Robert W. Colgan, Sr., an electrical contractor on major projects around northwest Ohio, including the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station, Government Center, and Franklin Park Mall, and a leader in professional associations, died Tuesday in Franciscan Care Center, Sylvania. He was 93.
He had congestive heart failure and kidney problems, his son Rob said.
Most recently, Mr. Colgan was manager of the homeowners association at Corey Cove in Sylvania Township, where he and his wife, Emily, lived.
He was founder and president of Colgan Electric, which at its peak was among the largest electrical contractors in the city, employing more than 600.
“He was straightforward and honest and yet as sharp a businessman as anybody you would every meet,” his son said. Mr. Colgan took particular pride in his company’s work at Davis-Besse, but also on Centennial Hall, now called Savage Arena, at the University of Toledo.
“He worked on so many of the big buildings in Toledo and at the university,” his wife said.
Mr. Colgan received a degree in electrical engineering from UT. He went to work for Rogers Electrical Service, becoming a partner and later owner of the renamed Colgan Electric Co. Early on, he became a leader of industry groups. He was local chapter president through the 1950s of the National Electrical Contractors Association. He later was a chapter governor and a national district vice president. From 1974-1979, he served three terms as national president.
“He always had time and had a real heart for the industry,” said his son, who retired as executive director of market development from the electrical contractors association.
Mr. Colgan was a founding fellow of the Academy of Electrical Contracting and received awards for his service to the industry.
“He was a man people admired and wanted to follow,” said Todd Michaelsen, manager of the Ohio-Michigan chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association. “He was a giant in the industry. We’re losing an era with that man. He’s touched so many lives so significantly. He’s been a game-changer for this community.”
Mr. Colgan retired in 1989, about two years after the firm was sold to MMR Holding Corp. of Baton Rouge, La. Colgan Electric folded in 1990, the victim according to news reports then of the new owner’s massive bankruptcy. Afterward, though, he was a consultant on Toledo area projects, among them Veterans’ Glass City Skyway.
“Bob had an incredible ability to identify problems, and when Bob said this is what we need to do, the arguments ceased,” Mr. Michaelsen said.
He was born Nov. 7, 1921, to Helyn and William Colgan. He was a graduate of Waite High School. He was in the Army Signal Corps during World War II and took part in the invasion of Okinawa.
Surviving are his wife, Emily, whom he married March 24, 1946; sons, Robert W., Jr., and Rand “Harmony Aquarian” Colgan; daughters, Cynthia Cox and Amy Eytchison; 10 grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be from 4-8 p.m. Friday in the Foth-Dorfmeyer Mortuary, where services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday.
The family suggests tributes to Epworth United Methodist Church in Ottawa Hills, where he was a member, or the UT Foundation.
Contact Mark Zaborney at: mzaborney@theblade.com or 419-724-6182.
First Published August 13, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
