Bruce Buchholzer, the first president of the International Soap Box Derby, died early Monday morning of complications from Alzheimer’s disease.
He was 82.
Mr. Buchholzer might be best known for helping to steer the gravity-powered racing program back from the brink after a cheating scandal tainted the race and longtime supporter Chevrolet pulled out.
Coincidentally, Mr. Buchholzer died the same day as another long-time Derby supporter, Frank A. “Whitey” Wahl.
The two often worked closely on the Derby and with the Summit County Sports Hall of Fame.
“They’re probably in heaven,” longtime Derby enthusiast Jeff Iula of Cuyahoga Falls said. “Bruce emceed the awards ceremonies for years, but he couldn’t remember people’s names, so he called everybody ‘Champ,’ and Whitey gave him hell for it.”
Mr. Buchholzer graduated from Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, Ga., attended Ohio University and served in the U.S. Army in Korea and in the U.S. Army Reserves.
Family members were movers and shakers in Akron.
His father, J.J., owned the downtown Hower Department Store for which Bruce worked until it closed in 1961. J.J. Buchholzer also owned land in North Akron that in 1967 became the area’s second indoor shopping mall, Chapel Hill. Bruce’s brother, Richard, developed the mall with Forest City Enterprises.
Bruce Buchholzer started an advertising agency and carved a niche for himself in community service.
Former Akron resident Bob Troyer recalls that Mr. Buchholzer became “a loyal, dedicated volunteer” of the reorganized Derby committee, serving as president in 1974 and general chairman in 1975.
Those were perilous days for the Akron-based organization, which was loping along without funding from the carmaker and smarting from a cheating scandal on the track. Only 99 racers took part that first year — a far cry from the 500-plus who raced in the most recent season.
“We had a determination to keep the program alive,” Troyer, now of the Chicago area, said.
Mr. Buchholzer served in many capacities with the Derby over the next three decades and was inducted into its hall of fame in 2000.
He also was a past commissioner of the Eastern District of the Boy Scouts and a charter member of the East Akron YMCA management. He served on the East Akron Board of Trade for 41 years and the Akron Board of Trade Council for 36 years.
He was active on the Summit County Sports Hall of Fame, twice serving as general chairman. In November, he donated $50,000 to the organization for scholarships that will bear his name.
He also was a founding trustee of the Robert O. and Annamae Orr Foundation, from which he retired in 2010.
Mr. Buchholzer received the George Boss Service Award from the Akron Touchdown Club in 2009.
Throughout it all, he often had a camera in his hand, Troyer recalled.
“You’d be at an outing, and a week later you’d get an envelope with four or five pictures of you and others,” Troyer recalled.
Mr. Buchholzer leaves his wife, Linda; her children, Tammy Miller of Bath and Troy Howell of Akron, plus their four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Mr. Buchholzer also leaves a sister, Eleanor Erickson of Los Angeles.
A private memorial service and burial will be Saturday. A celebration of his life is pending.
Carol Biliczky can be reached at 330-996-3729 or cbiliczky@thebeaconjournal.com.