John F. Gradel, who extended the reach of his family’s legacy East Toledo construction business while traveling the world and farming, died April 19 at Mercy Health St. Vincent Medical Center. He was 86.

He’d been in declining health for several months, his daughter, Josephine “Jo” King, said. He was president of the George Gradel Co., founded by his grandfather in 1903, and “was still in full control,” Ms. King said.

Near Oak Harbor, Ohio, he also owned Fenwick Marina, which he started 42 years ago, and his nearly 2,000-acre farming operation in Jerusalem Township.

“He never slowed down. He just wore his body out,” Ms. King said. His four children and several grandchildren work in the business.

“He was very proud. It was the third and fourth and fifth generations working together. What more could you ask for?” she said.

The business historically cleared and excavated land for buildings in downtown Toledo and Toledo Edison’s Acme power plant in East Toledo. Later projects included Fiberglas Tower and Edison’s Bay Shore plant. The firm has done work for the Ohio Department of Transportation, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and the Army Corps of Engineers

His children learned: “You never said no. He looked at every job, there’s always a way to do it,” Ms. King said. “We would drive around together, and he would say, we did this, and we did that.”

Greg Hoodlebrink, a Gradel project manager, has a photo from the 1940s of a Gradel bulldozer working at an east side refinery.

“The Gradel name, we’ve touched some portion of every project in the area,” he said.

Mr. Gradel in his early teens worked summers for his father, Norman Gradel.

“He loved machinery and equipment,” his son Marc Gradel said.

He graduated from Central Catholic High School in 1955 and attended the University of Dayton, from which he received a degree in civil engineering. He joined the business full-time after stateside Army service and became president in 1973, when his father retired.

“He used to talk about having to work his way up,” Ms. King said.

An early project in which he had a role was Oregon’s Lake Erie water intake. In the 1980s, he bought barges and tugboats to create a Gradel marine division, which has received contracts for river dredging projects and shoreline work, including at Maumee Bay State Park.

“He wanted to grow the company,” the younger Mr. Gradel said. “He loved the water. He just loved going on the barges. That’s what kind of captivated him.

“He was a guy who followed his dreams and made them happen and never gave up on them,” the younger Mr. Gradel said. “I looked up to him, because I saw how driven he was. There was no give-up in him. Even when times were tough, he waded through it. He was a very smart man and hard-working.”

He could be stern to work for.

“He expected if you worked for him to earn your keep,” the younger Mr. Gradel said.

Ms. King said: “And we all have these amazing work ethics. I can’t imagine a closer family than we are.”

He was born March 8, 1937, to Josephine and Norman Gradel and grew up on East Broadway. At age 18, he received the Distinguished Rifleman Award from the National Rifle Association in Washington. He later competed in the national rifle matches at Camp Perry near Port Clinton.

His parents had a summer home on the Lake Erie shore in Jerusalem Township, and his father raised horses on land in the township.

Mr. Gradel later acquired farmland in the township, on which he grew corn and soybeans. He sold nearly 1,000 acres in 2008 to Metroparks Toledo, then the biggest land acquisition in agency history, The Blade reported.

“He was a conservationist. He didn’t want to see this area get developed into condos,” the young Mr. Gradel said.

He and family members have continued to work the farmland. He last was on a tractor two years ago.

“It was like tranquility to him to get in the combine. He couldn’t wait for harvest time,” the younger Mr. Gradel said. “He lived every minute of his life. He never sat around in front of a television.”

With permission from his mother, Mr. Gradel at age 17 sailed across the Atlantic aboard a ship from Norway that had docked at Toledo. In Paris, he climbed to the top of the Notre Dame Cathedral. He went to the North Pole and pulled piranha into his boat while plying the Amazon River.

“He really just seemed to live a life that you wouldn’t believe if you didn’t hear the stories coming from him,” said Mr. Hoodlebrink, adding that Mr. Gradel often produced photographic evidence of his adventures.

Though long divorced from his first wife, Bea Meyers Gradel, they remained close.

“He had the largest heart, especially when it came to family and the kids and the grandkids,” the younger Mr. Gradel said. “He always looked after my mother and took care of her. We have so many pictures of him and my mom at the lake, sitting together, watching the grandkids.”

Surviving are his sons John Gradel, Jr., and Marc Gradel; daughters Jo King and Cathy Gradel; sister, Cathy Thompson; seven grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 2-8 p.m. Thursday at Walker Funeral Home in Oregon, where a funeral service will begin at 10 a.m. Friday.

The family suggests tributes to Wolf Creek Sportsmen’s Association in Jerusalem Township to promote hunter education.

First Published April 27, 2023, 4:00 a.m.