Ronald M. Mottl

{{Short description|American lawyer and politician (1934–2023)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox officeholder | birth_name = Ronald Milton Mottl | birth_place = Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. | birth_date = {{birth date |1934|2|6}} | name = Ronald M. Mottl | image = Ronald M. Mottl 97th Congress 1981.jpg | caption = Official portrait, 1981 | state_house1 = Ohio | state1 = Ohio | district1 = 20th | term1 = January 3, 1987 – February 5, 1997 | preceded1 = June Kreuzer | succeeded1 = Ron Mottl Jr. | state2 = Ohio | district2 = 23rd | term_start2 = January 3, 1975 | term_end2 = January 3, 1983 | preceded2 = William Edwin Minshall, Jr. | succeeded2 = ''District eliminated'' | state_senate3 = Ohio | state3 = Ohio | district3 = 24th | term3 = January 3, 1969 – December 31, 1974 | preceded3 = Francis D. Sullivan | succeeded3 = Jerome Stano | term4 = January 3, 1967 – December 31, 1968 | preceded4 = ''At-Large'' | succeeded4 = Gertrude Polcar | office5 = Member of the Parma City Council<ref name="bio" /> | term_start5 = 1960 | term_end5 = 1966<ref name=bio /> | party = Democratic | education = University of Notre Dame (BS, JD)<ref name=bio /> | spouse = Debra<ref name="Article">[http://parmaobserver.com/read/2019/08/01/the-presidents-corner The President's Corner]</ref> | children = 4<ref name="Article" /> | branch = United States Army<ref name=bio /> | service_years = 1957<ref name=bio /> | death_date = {{death date and age|2023|10|13|1934|2|6}} | death_place = }}

'''Ronald Milton Mottl''' (February 6, 1934 – October 13, 2023) was an American lawyer and politician who served in the Ohio General Assembly for multiple decades. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served four terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 1983.

==Early life== Ronald Milton Mottl was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Miroslav Václav Josef Mottl and Anna Hummel, a couple of Czech descent.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Apple Jr|first=R. W.|date=1970-08-22|title=Fall Elections in Ohio to Test Power of Incumbents|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/08/22/archives/fall-elections-in-ohio-to-test-power-of-incumbents.html|access-date=2020-06-08|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> His father, an immigrant from Počaply, died from chronic valvular heart disease when he was 11.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ebadatelna.soapraha.cz/d/10167/140|title=Státní oblastní archiv v Praze|website=ebadatelna.soapraha.cz|access-date=2020-03-22}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X6FT-Q2B|title=Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953|last=Mottl|date=1945|website=FamilySearch}}</ref> His mother, born in Pittsburgh to parents from Kvaň and Mýto, remarried to Václav Schovánek from Kladno.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V9QL-LMF|title=United States Social Security Death Index|last=Schovanek|date=1987|website=FamilySearch}}</ref> Mottl graduated from Parma Schaaf High School in 1952 and later was inducted into the school’s athletic hall of fame.

=== College and military service === He attended the University of Notre Dame for which he played baseball in 1955.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Notre Dame Athletics {{!}} The Fighting Irish|url=https://und.com/|access-date=2020-06-08|website=Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=M001044|title=MOTTL, Ronald Milton|publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress|access-date=1 October 2010}}</ref> He served in the United States Army Reserves in 1957.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

==Career== Mottl was a lawyer, and served on the city council of Parma, Ohio from 1960 to 1966<ref>{{Cite web|last=Sandrick|first=Bob|date=2011-04-07|title=Ron "Mickey" Mottl hopes to follow his father to the political stage|url=https://www.cleveland.com/parmasunpost/2011/04/ron_mickey_mottl_hopes_to_foll.html|access-date=2020-06-08|website=cleveland|language=en}}</ref> and the Ohio state legislature from 1967 until 1975.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

=== Congress === Mottl served four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1975 to 1983.<ref name=bio /> A conservative Democrat, Mottl was an ally of Ronald Reagan's legislative agenda.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=Maxa|first=Rudy|date=8 November 1981|title=From Beautiful Downtown Parma, It's Rep. Ron Mottl and the Ronettes|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/1981/11/08/from-beautiful-downtown-parma-its-rep-ron-mottl-and-the-ronettes/3350d8a1-e7d9-411b-86f3-ece74db776c7/|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> In 1982, Mottl lost the Democratic primary<ref name=bio /> to Ed Feighan, thereby losing his seat.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Peterson|first=Iver|date=1982-06-13|title=The Ohio Primary Provides Little to Cling To|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/13/weekinreview/the-ohio-primary-provides-little-to-cling-to.html|access-date=2020-06-08|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

=== Return to state legislature === 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, where he served until 1997.<ref name=bio /> He was also an unsuccessful candidate for mayor of North Royalton, Ohio in 1999.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

==Personal life == Mottl had four children.<ref name=":0" /> Ronald Jr. and a daughter are from his first marriage and a son and daughter are from his second marriage to Debbie.<ref name=":0" /> Ron Jr. was a representative in the Ohio House of Representatives for one term from 1997 to 1998 immediately succeeding his father.

== Death == Mottl died on October 13, 2023, at the age of 89.<ref>[https://obits.cleveland.com/us/obituaries/cleveland/name/ronald-mottl-obituary?pid=205494329%26utm_source%3Dfacebook%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dobitsharebeta Ronald Mottl obituary]</ref>

==References== *{{C-SPAN|1001427}}

{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state = Ohio | district = 23 | before=William Edwin Minshall, Jr. | after= District eliminated | years=1975–1983 }} {{s-end}} {{OhioRepresentativesOther}} {{USCongRep-start|congresses= 94th–97th United States Congresses |state=Ohio}} {{USCongRep/OH/94}} {{USCongRep/OH/95}} {{USCongRep/OH/96}} {{USCongRep/OH/97}} {{USCongRep-end}} {{authority control}}

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