The Woodward Alumni Hall of Fame Association
Judge Roger R. Weiher Inducted 1994 - Class of 1943
Toledo lost a Mud Hen but gained a judicial leader when Roger R. Weiher traded in his bat for a gavel.
Upon graduating from Woodward in 1943, Roger enlisted in the United States Air Force. When the war ended in Japan, he was transferred to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, where he played basketball and baseball in the service league.
Fellow Polar Bears will remember that Roger participated in both of these sports, with bowling, while he attended W.H.S.
Returning to life as a civilian in 1946, he reported to the Toledo Mud hens in hopes of landing a contract. After working out with the team, he received word that no positions were open in the farm system because a Congressional Law required employers to offer returning servicemen their
former positions.
"I didn't want to sit around and do nothing for a year. I decided to take advantage of the G.I. Bill and enroll at John Carroll University," Roger said.
He later transferred to Western Michigan University where he played baseball and earned a Bachelor of Science degree. Following graduation in 1951, he returned to his hometown to attend law school rather than to pursue a career in professional baseball.
Roger also gave in to Cupid's cajoling and married his first wife, Eve.
While in law school at the University of Toledo, Roger was appointed assignment commissioner and assistant jury commissioner to the Lucas County Common Pleas Court. In 1955, he was appointed chief deputy clerk of that tribunal, a position he held for nine years. During that time, Roger also maintained a law office where he concentrated on Workers' Compensation, personal injury, real estate, probate, and general litigation.
A star on stage as well as in front of the courtroom, Roger performed with the Toledo Repertoire and the Village Players. He said his passion for performing was nurtured at Woodward by Dorothy Warner. She directed his leading man performance in the senior play, Dear Daffodil
The love of performing was shared by his first wife, Eve, who was a director, actress, and teacher. In 1964, she was hired to direct a professional summer company of Tent in the Trees. Unfortunately, the season opened and was shut down by Actors Equity when the producer failed to post bonds to guarantee salaries for the stars and equity actors.
This was just two weeks before the company was to take the stage to perform West Side Story. Mirroring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney, Eve and Roger gathered the cast and supporters and decided to put on the Broadway show. As a result, the couple formed the company called Lynro Productions and rented the State Theater for the performance. It was such a hit that they produced several more successful musicals and plays before disbanding in 1969.
Although Roger stepped out of the theater spotlight to practice law fulltime, he was landing leading roles in the local Democratic Party. Starting as a young party officer, he served as press secretary to the 1959 Democratic Convention which was held in Toledo. Notables in attendance included Harry S. Truman, the Kennedy clan, Hubert Humphrey, Bette Davis, and Gary Merrill. Roger later became the Democratic Party's precinct committeeman and twelfth ward chairperson.
In 1974, Roger was appointed Ohio's assistant attorney general, handling Workers' Compensation appeals to the Common Pleas Court in a five-county area of Northwestern Ohio. He served in that capacity until 1989 when former Governor Richard Celeste appointed Roger judge to the Toledo Municipal Court. He currently holds this position.
Among his many awards is the coveted Toledo Junior Bar Association’s Order of the Heel, a honor bestowed on a member of the Senior Bar who has excelled at lending a helping hand to young lawyers.
In 1983, Eve lost a five-year battle with lymphoma. In 1994, Roger and his current wife, Norma, will celebrate their ninth anniversary. Their hobbies include golf, travel and cooking.