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Former Wheeling Fire Chief, Councilman Cliff Sligar Recalled for Service, Love of Community

Former Wheeling fire chief Cliff Sligar, left, seen here with former assistant fire chief Ed Geisel and current chief Larry Helms, died Wednesday. He was remembered by co-workers and friends for the energy he put into the city both as fire chief and councilman. (File Photo)

WHEELING — If there was one thing everyone knew about Cliff Sligar, he wanted to make his home city of Wheeling a better place. He did that during his 40-year tenure with the Wheeling Fire Department, much of that as its chief. He did that for eight years as a Wheeling city councilman.

Sligar, who also spent more than a decade as Belmont County’s 911 director, died Wednesday, and was remembered as someone with an open mind and boundless energy who had earned great respect both as fire chief and councilman.

Steve Johnston, operations superintendent for the city of Wheeling, remembered the day Sligar hired him as a firefighter. He sat across the table from Sligar in August 1976, with his burly stature and baritone voice. Sligar by then had been chief for five years, starting with the department in 1955.

“I have to tell you, it was a man-to-boy conversation, to be quite honest,” Johnston said. “But one of the things I learned over the years was that he was one of the most passionate firefighters and compassionate people I’ve ever met. He put his heart and soul into the job.”

Johnston ultimately stepped into the job of Wheeling fire chief when Sligar retired in 1995. When he sat down at the chief’s desk, he opened the top drawer and found a dollar bill that Sligar had left there. The message: the buck stops with him.

When Larry Helms took over as Wheeling fire chief, Johnston made sure to leave a dollar bill for him. It was one of several aspects of leadership Johnston took away from his time with Sligar: have an open door, be ready to talk about suggestions or complaints and keep an interest in others’ ideas and input.

“One of the things he taught me was don’t be afraid to make a mistake,” Johnston said. “Don’t be afraid to try. Also, know when to quit. If an idea isn’t working, you have to know when to back away.”

Sligar moved from one city leadership role almost immediately into another. After retiring from the fire department in 1995, he was voted onto city council in 1996 and served until 2004. Larry “Babe” Schmitt sat right beside him on council throughout his tenure.

They weren’t always on the same side of an issue, Schmitt said, but they often were able to find a compromise. When Sligar said something, he added, not only did he believe it, it was fundamentally right.

“He was one terrific person,” Schmitt said. “He was Wheeling through and through. I’m pretty sure that’s why he ran for council, because he felt he could help the city. Just a good guy.”

Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron one day found out just how ingrained Sligar was into the fabric of the city. There is a photo in Herron’s office titled “The Island Boys” taken in 1947. Seven boys are seen on bicycles. Sligar saw the photo and told Herron he recognized one of the boys in the photo. The second kid from the left was him.

“He loved the community, loved his role as a ward councilperson,” Herron said. “But he always looked out for the overall best interests of the city as an elected official. And he was absolutely the most respected fire chief that I’d ever been around.”

Mike Nau, a former Wheeling councilman and city manager, saw both Sligar’s love for the city and ability as fire chief when the two — Nau as manager and Sligar as fire chief — worked around the clock with other members of city staff to devise a plan to solve an oil spill in the Ohio River that affected Wheeling’s drinking water. As a fire chief and as a councilman, Nau said Sligar always exhibited common sense. He was a real person who knew what growing up in Wheeling was like.

“I can’t say enough about Cliff and his work,” Nau said. “He was the type of individual that, if he told you something, you could rely on it. If I had to depend on somebody, I could always go to Cliff for advice. He was indispensable.”

Following his time as Wheeling fire chief, he crossed the Ohio River and lent his expertise to Belmont County as its 911 director. Richard Quinlan worked side by side with Sligar as the county’s emergency management agency director. Even though Sligar had reached an age when most retire completely from daily working life, Quinlan said he approached the job in Belmont County with an infectious energy.

Sligar just enjoyed helping people, Quinlan said.

“The life he lived and the service he provided to the people of Wheeling and later to Belmont County was very great,” Quinlan said. “He was very knowledgeable and the zeal he had to serve the public was second to none.”

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