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Gerald M. Fleeter Richmond Heights, OH QCWA # 29489 Chapter 1 |
GERALD MARVIN FLEETER Real Estate entrepreneur and inveterate adventurer, died last week in Park City, Utah. Mr. Fleeter, 88, of Beachwood, was a lifelong Clevelander who married the love of his life, Hannah Sondheimer, in 1947 when she was 18 and he was 19. They were married for 68 years. He is the father of three children: Tom, an Orthopedic Surgeon in Reston, Virginia; Rick, a Rocket Scientist and Professor who teaches at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and La Sapienza in Rome, Italy. His daughter, Carol, of Beachwood, is a Social worker and Technology manager of the ACLU.
Survivors include his wife, Hannah, of Beachwood, and daughter-in-law, Joanne Fleeter, of Reston, Virginia.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Albert and Sarah Fleeter and his brother Stanley and survived by two brothers Alan and Norman.
His true passion was keeping up with his five grandchildren, Dan Fleeter, Drew Fleeter, Samantha Terkeltaub, Diana Fleeter, Brad Lewicki and Lisa Lewicki. A graduate of Cleveland Heights High School, he was the first in his family to attend college, earning a BA in business from Western Reserve University, now Case Western Reserve University. He also served in the U.S. Army. He paid his way through college driving a tractor at construction sites and he parlayed the skills of tractor/front loader operations into building a successful construction company and real estate management company that he was president of for 40 years. When he was 65, he retired as a general contractor and started a new career in condominium management. His company, Management One, is in Richmond Hts., Ohio. Outside of the office, Mr. Fleeter was an accomplished tennis player, scuba diver, ham radio operator, and private pilot. He swam .5 mile four-five times a week and was a regular figure at the Beachwood pool and Life Time Fitness. His passion was bike riding, and even at 88 he rode 20-30 miles daily. He was a frequent all-seasons rider on a battery-assisted bicycle on the MetroParks trails. He celebrated his 75th birthday scuba diving to 75 feet and his 80th birthday with a mountain bike trek down Deer Valley in Utah. He was an active member of The Temple-Tifereth Israel and for many years was an AZA leader. He loved to travel and made trips to the Galapagos Islands, Japan, Alaska and throughout Europe. Services will be Tuesday at 3 p.m. at BERKOWITZ-KUMIN-BOOKATZ, 1985 South Taylor Road, Cleveland Heights, with burial at Mayfield Cemetery. Family will receive friends at the residence of Hannah Fleeter, 24500 Albert Ln., Beachwood, Ohio, Tuesday following services until 8pm, and Wednesday and Thursday 3pm to 8pm.
Published in The Plain Dealer from Aug. 24 to Aug. 27, 2015