Marlatt Funeral Home

Spiess, who taught art at every grade level in the local school district and championed the arts in the community, closing his career as village administrator, died Friday in University Hospital of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He was 69.He had colon cancer, his son Mark Spiess said.Mr. Spiess, a resident of Gorham Township, retired about a decade ago as administrator of Fayette. He came to the position six years earlier with a diversified background, said Ruth Marlatt, a former mayor of the Fulton County village. As an art teacher, he knew how to balance needs with his budget as he ordered supplies. He’d also been a leader and volunteer in community groups.“He was one of those people that had so much to give,” Mrs. Marlatt said. “I don’t know how we’re ever going to replace this man. He had so much knowledge.”Early in his tenure, he oversaw the drilling of new wells to serve the village after pollutants from a former industrial plant threatened the water supply.He was a former president of the local chamber of commerce and the Fulton County Community Improvement Corporation. He was a founder and former executive director of the community arts council. He led efforts to restore the town’s historic opera house, built about 1898. He’d been a member of the Ohio Arts Council and was named a Fayette citizen of the year. “He was a big thinker,” his son said. “He was always there with his sleeves rolled up. He was driven and charismatic, and he was a motivator.” When he ran a meeting, Mrs. Marlatt said, he stuck to the agenda and defused distractions.“People recognized him as the person who was in charge, No. 1, and he had a very cool head and calm way of letting you know that what you’d said wasn’t valuable information we need right now — without saying, ‘Shut up,’” Mrs. Marlatt said. “And he was a genuinely nice man.”He was born May 7, 1948, in Wauseon to Marjorie and George Spiess. He was a 1966 graduate of Delta High School. He received a bachelor’s degree in education... (Toledo Blade)