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WHEELING -- A longtime Wheeling businessman and community leader will join a longtime Wheeling fire chief and former city councilman as some of the newest members of the Wheeling Hall of Fame.
The late Jesse Bloch and the late Cliff Sligar will both be posthumously inducted into the Wheeling Hall of Fame's 2025 class under the category of public service. The 2025 induction ceremony will take place at 6 p.m. Saturday, June 28, at WesBanco Arena. Tickets are $45 and can be purchased online at WesBancoArena.com or by calling the arena box office at 304-233-7000, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
The last day to buy tickets is June 25.
Jesse A. Bloch
Bloch was the second-generation son of a German immigrant family who came to the United States in the mid-19th century. Born to Samuel and Bertha Bloch in 1879, he attended Wheeling public schools and Linsly and earned degrees from Phillips-Exeter and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He joined Bloch Brothers Tobacco Co., the business founded by his father and his uncle Aaron, in 1900. He later became the company's vice president, and from 1937-47, held the office of president.
Bloch Brothers, a unionized company, enjoyed positive relationships with its workers, something exemplary for this period in American history. The fair labor practices of the Bloch company had a profound influence on Jesse after he entered the political world in West Virginia's House of Delegates and the state Senate.
During his first House term (1912-14) he advanced a bill written by Wheeling's central labor body, the Ohio Valley Trades and Labor Assembly, dealing with workmen's compensation. House Bill No. 9 became known as the Bloch Bill. Watered down by the state's insurance companies and its coal barons, it was "the foundation of which to build" and, according to labor historians, one of the greatest labor victories before World War I.
When Bloch moved to the state Senate, he found himself embroiled in one of the nation's social issues - women's suffrage. Female suffrage failed in a statewide vote in 1916 with 70% voting no. In 1920, there was a new push for suffrage in the form of an amendment to the United States Constitution. With 36 states needed for this amendment to pass, West Virginia's approval was crucial, but the Senate was deadlocked at 14 to 14. Bloch supported suffrage, but he was in California when the special session of the Senate convened.
Alerted to this deadlock, Bloch returned to Charleston by train, taking three days to make the trip. His affirmative vote broke the tie, and West Virginia approved what became the 19th Amendment. His role in this political drama was celebrated in the state on the 100th anniversary of its passage.
As a community leader, he played leadership roles with the Wheeling Housing Authority, the Ohio Valley General Hospital, the Boy Scouts, the Ohio County Anti-Tuberculosis League, and, during World War I, the Liberty Loan program.
In May 1940, he and his siblings donated their parents' home, Elmhurst, to the Home for Aged Women. Given in honor of their mother, the home, since enlarged, continues to serve retired area residents.
Jesse married Jessie Thornton Moffat. Along with their two children, they joined the Vance Memorial Church, close to their home in Pleasant Valley. Jesse is the third member of his family to be added to the Wheeling Hall of Fame, joining his father, Samuel, and a grandson, Stuart.
Bloch died in his home on January 17, 1951, and is buried in Wheeling's Greenwood Cemetery.
Cliff Sligar
Born in Wheeling on January 27, 1933, Sligar was best known for his committed service to the City of Wheeling as its fire chief, where he spent 24 years in that role. His 52-year public service career started with the U.S. Army in Germany during the Korean War (1953-55). On June 24, 1955, he achieved his lifelong dream and joined the Wheeling Fire Department.
In May 1971, while still a captain with the department, Sligar was invited to join some of the top commanding officers in the country at NASA's Manned Space Center in Houston, Texas, where they worked to develop an advanced support breathing apparatus for firefighters. This was a significant advancement in firefighting while improving the personal safety of the individual firefighter.
Cliff was appointed fire chief on October 1, 1971. During his tenure, in the mid-1970s, he worked closely with local hospitals, physicians, and nurses to train and certify firefighters as Mobile Intensive Care Paramedics and West Virginia state-certified Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs).
He played a key role in developing the department's EMT/paramedic program while also updating tactics and strategies for approaching various fire and emergency situations. His attention to continuing education and further funding of the Wheeling Fire Department EMS program continues the department's tradition of service decades after his retirement.
In 1988, he pushed the City of Wheeling to develop a county-wide 911 center. Since then, 911 has saved thousands of lives thanks to the initial push and implementation during his tenure.
Sligar was a visionary, a problem solver, an early adopter, an agent of change, a disruptor, and an excellent manager of human and physical resources. He was met with several challenging emergencies, and his leadership was commended many times for being "the person in charge" of many notable safety events in Wheeling.
In January 1988, an oil spill in the Ohio River contaminated the city's water supply. During that event, Sligar came up with the idea and was clever enough to use the former North Wheeling Railroad bridge to construct a water supply line from Martins Ferry, Ohio, to supply fresh well water to Wheeling - all having the public's safety in mind.
A letter to Sligar from then-City Manager Mike Nau said in part, "I want to take a moment to tell you how impressed I was with your handling of the recent water crisis. I was dependent upon you throughout this crisis, and you certainly maintained my confidence level in dealing with this situation. I have heard many times how fortunate the City of Wheeling is to have such a compatible and qualified individual protecting the public safety of our citizens. I certainly owe you a debt of gratitude."
Sligar's life of public service continued after retiring from the Wheeling Fire Department in 1995, where he had spent a total of 40 years. He went on to develop and launch the Belmont County, Ohio, 911 Center in 1997 and served as its first director until his retirement in June 2007.
He also served Wheeling City Council's fourth ward for two elected terms from 1996-2004.
Honored at the 2019 Wheeling State of the City Address, Sligar was praised by Mayor Glenn Elliott, who said, "Nobody embodies that commitment to service more than the last of my honorees today, U.S. Army veteran and retired Wheeling Fire Chief Cliff Sligar. For 40 years, including 24 as chief, Cliff came to work at the Wheeling Fire Department to keep us safe. As chief, he was instrumental in adding Emergency Medical Services to the fire department. Under his leadership, the department's investigation division was launched in 1986, and the police and fire departments combined their communication systems in 1988."
Sligar died on March 17, 2021, at age 88, and is survived by his wife Sherry, adult sons Bill (Shelley) Sligar and Cliff Sligar, and nephew Stephen Himrod.
Sligar will be remembered first and foremost as a firefighter who cared deeply for his department and city. The Intelligencer noted after his passing, "If there was one thing everyone knew about Cliff Sligar, he wanted to make his home city of Wheeling a better place."