Ronald Milton Mottl (February 6, 1934 – October 13, 2023) was an American lawyer and politician who served in the

Ohio General Assembly The Ohio General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio. It consists of the 99-member Ohio House of Representatives and the 33-member Ohio Senate. Both houses of the General Assembly meet at the Ohio Statehouse in Colu ...

for multiple decades. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served four terms in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from 1975 to 1983.

Early life

Ronald Milton Mottl was born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, to Miroslav Václav Josef Mottl and Anna Hummel, a couple of

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

descent. His father, an immigrant from Počaply, died from chronic

valvular heart disease Valvular heart disease is any cardiovascular disease process involving one or more of the four valves of the heart (the aortic and mitral valves on the left side of heart and the pulmonic and tricuspid valves on the right side of heart). The ...

when he was 11. His mother, born in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

to parents from Kvaň and Mýto, remarried to Václav Schovánek from

Kladno Kladno (; ) is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 70,000 inhabitants. It is the largest city in the region and has a rich industrial history. Administrative division Kladno consists of six municipal parts ...

. Mottl graduated from Parma Schaaf High School in 1952 and later was inducted into the school’s athletic hall of fame. He attended the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

for which he played baseball in 1955. He served in the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed ...

s in 1957.

Career

Mottl was a lawyer, and served on the city council of

Parma, Ohio Parma is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. It is a suburb south of Cleveland. The population was 81,146 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Parma is the List of municipalities in Ohio, seventh-most populous city in Ohio, ...

from 1960 to 1966 and the Ohio state legislature from 1967 until 1975. Mottl served four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1975 to 1983. A

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Democrat, Mottl was an ally of

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

's legislative agenda. In 1982, Mottl lost the Democratic primary to Ed Feighan, thereby losing his seat. Mottl returned to local politics, serving on the Parma school board from 1985 until 1986, and as president of the school board in 1986, until he was elected to the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in ...

, where he served until 1997. He was also an unsuccessful candidate for mayor of North Royalton, Ohio in 1999.

Personal life and death

Mottl had four children. Ronald Jr. and a daughter are from his first marriage and a son and daughter are from his second marriage to Debbie. Ron Jr. was a representative in the

for one term from 1997 to 1998 immediately succeeding his father. Mottl died on October 13, 2023, at the age of 89.Ronald Mottl obituary
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References

* 1934 births 2023 deaths American people of Czech descent Politicians from Cleveland University of Notre Dame alumni Notre Dame Law School alumni Democratic Party Ohio state senators Democratic Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball players Lawyers from Cleveland Military personnel from Cleveland People from North Royalton, Ohio Ohio city council members School board members in Ohio Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio United States Army soldiers United States Army reservists 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Ohio General Assembly {{Ohio-Representative-stub

Early life

Career

Personal life and death

See also

References