Thomas Geiger Sr., senior executive officer of Capital Tire Inc., died June 14, 2018, after a brief illness. The Perrysburg, Ohio, resident was 86.
According to a story in the Toledo Blade, his son, Tom Geiger Jr., said although he had cancer, he spent a full day at the office the week before his death.
"The industry and the people he worked with in the industry were essentially his life," his son said. "That’s the motor that kept him going."
He was born to Benjamin and Dorothy Geiger on June 11, 1932, at St Vincent's Hospital in Toledo, Ohio, and remained in the Northwest Ohio area all of his life. After graduating from Central Catholic High School in May 1950, he joined his father at Capital Tire. He was named president of the family-owned company in 1962 when his father, who founded the company in 1919, semi-retired.
During his 68-year career as a Goodyear distributor, he oversaw Capital Tire's growth from a single location to a three state, multi-location distribution organization servicing nearly 5,000 retail locations. The Toledo Blade reported Capital Tire ran 10 warehouses and distributed more than a million tires annually.
"Capital Tire started out as a retail business and later expanded to 20 retail Tom’s Tire & Auto locations in Ohio and Michigan. The firm decided in recent years to focus on the wholesale and distribution side of the business and sold the retail locations."
(To read the Toledo Blade article, click here.)
In his spare time, Geiger was an avid yachtsman. He and his wife, Brenda, frequently traveled from the Great Lakes region down the eastern seaboard to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He was also a 66-year member of the Inverness Club and longtime member and former president of the Toledo Club.
He was involved in many charitable and civic causes in Northwest Ohio. He was a St. Vincent's Hospital Foundation board member and was very involved with charitable activities at Central Catholic High School.
First married to Therese Gladieux in 1951, Geiger and his first wife raised three children. The marriage ended in 1977. He married Brenda Diemer in November 1979.
In addition to his parents, Geiger was preceded in death by his sister, Dorothy Pencheff, Therese Gladieux Geiger, and daughter Jeannine Vandendriesche. He is survived by his loving wife, Brenda; sons Thomas Geiger Jr. (Paulette) and Richard Geiger; son-in-law Robert Vandendriesche; five grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
There will be no visitation. Interment will be private. Funeral arrangements are being made by Ansberg-West Funeral Home. A Mass of Celebration of Life and a luncheon will be scheduled at a later date.
Those wishing to make a memorial tribute may consider Hospice of Northwest Ohio, 30000 East River Road, Perrysburg, OH 43551.
