Leo G. Deiger, who was president of the corrugated container company his father founded and of a firm that repurposed former industrial spaces, died Sunday in Hospice of Northwest Ohio, Perrysburg Township. He was 79.
He had vascular dementia, his family said.
The Perrysburg Township resident was involved with Pro-Pak Industries until about a year ago, his wife, Debbie Deiger, said.
“He wasn’t just the president, he was actively involved,” she said. “He would make business decisions and build business relationships. Second shift, he would help in the plant. He had the best work ethic, ever. That’s one thing that impressed me about him.”
Pro-Pak, now of Maumee, is the successor to Production Shippers Box Co., run for many years by Mr. Deiger’s parents, Charles and Adele Deiger. The company in the late 1940s made wooden crates for Willys-Overland Motors.
He helped out in his youth. The company became full-time job and career after he returned from Xavier University, where he received a business administration degree. His brothers later joined the business.
“He learned from the ground up,” said David Joseph, his former son-in-law. “He understood all aspects of the business — the manufacturing and the sales, the economics of the business itself. He worked side by side with the employees. The people looked at him as a true leader.”
Mr. Deiger became a property owner, as his father was, and teamed with Gary Marck in I.B.C. Inc., which stands for I-75 Business Center, their name for the former home of the DeVilbiss Co. on Phillips Avenue. They subdivided the vast facility for warehousing and other uses, and I.B.C. leases the spaces to business tenants.
As tenants’ enterprises grew, Mr. Deiger and Mr. Marck found additional space for them. In decades as business partners, the pair developed more than 4 million square feet of space — including the former AP Parts complex on Matzinger Road and, in the Warehouse District, Erie Street Market and the Spaghetti Warehouse building.
“He was my mentor. I wouldn’t have done it without Leo,” said Mr. Marck, I.B.C. vice president, who did business with Mr. Deiger’s father as well.
Deliberate in his responses, Mr. Deiger sealed deals with an extra-firm handshake.
“You’d ask him a question, he’d sit there and look at you. That’s intimidating to people,” Mr. Marck said. “But when he said something, then it was worthwhile and noteworthy. He didn’t just spout off. If you treated Leo well, he treated you well. He had friends that go back a long time.”
He also was known for his charitable giving, particularly as a supporter of Toledo Northwestern Ohio Food Bank.
He was born Nov. 1, 1940, to Adele and Charles Deiger. He grew up in South Toledo and was a graduate of Central Catholic High School.
He was formerly married to the late Margaret Deiger. Their daughter Brenda died in infancy.
Surviving are his wife, Debbie Deiger, whom he married Sept. 18, 1990; daughter, Sherrie Deiger; son, Randy Deiger; stepdaughter, Alexis Peregoy; stepson, Mark James; sister, Charlene Aiken; brothers Anthony and Charles Deiger; 10 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
Services were private. Arrangements are by the Walker Funeral Home.
The family suggests tributes to Hospice of Northwest Ohio or Toledo Northwestern Ohio Food Bank.
Contact Mark Zaborney
at mzaborney@theblade.com
or 419-724-6182.
First Published May 8, 2020, 4:00 a.m.
