Friends mourn attorney Geoffrey Oglesby

SANDUSKY — Sanduskians mourning the death of prominent attorney Geoffrey Oglesby described him as a champion of justice and a man who cherished his hometown and cared about the community."He loved Sandusky and only wanted to live and work here," said Eugene Sanders, superintendent of Sandusky City Schools. "It's a real loss to me personally. He was a good personal friend of mine."Oglesby, 63, died Thursday in Stein Hospice after a battle with cancer. A wake has been scheduled for 4-7 p.m. Friday at Second Baptist Church, 315 Decatur St., followed by Masonic services 7-8 p.m. The funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Community Church of the Nazarene, 1617 Milan Road."It hit me like a ton of bricks when I got the call," said Jim Jackson, former president of the NAACP. "I don't know of any individual in the community who would say anything bad about Geoff Oglesby. He was that well-liked."Oglesby took on many cases in his long legal career and won many of them. For example, after Terry Garrett Jr., 9, drowned in 1987 in the city's Surf's Up wave pool, Oglesby won a judgment, and then won in the Ohio Supreme Court case Garrett v. City of Sandusky when the city appealed."If you were in trouble in Sandusky and you needed legal representation, Geoff Oglesby was the guy you called, and everybody knew it," Sanders said."My dad was a fierce advocate for the little guy," said Oglesby's daughter, Brandi Oglesby. "He would take cases that often a lot of attorneys would consider un-winnable."Steve Kraus, a former Republican state representative, said Oglesby helped with his appeals after Kraus was convicted of theft in Ottawa County and was removed from office. Kraus continues to maintain his innocence.Kraus said that he's a Republican and Oglesby was a Democrat, but that didn't seem to matter."He was willing to go to the mat for me," Kraus said. "I thought he was a great man. I think Sandusky has lost a powerful advocate for justice."He was positive and encouraging with his clients, Kraus said."He always said, 'We got this,'" Kraus said. Oglesby's father, Navy veteran and Sandusky High School graduate R.B. Oglesby, for years was the only minority attorney in Sandusky. His sister, Lurlia Oglesby, is also an attorney at Oglesby & Oglesby LPA, the local family firm."There's been a lawyer by the name of Oglesby in the Sandusky community for many, many decades," Sanders said."He was trying to emulate my grandfather," Brandi Oglesby said. "His love of the law ran deep."Many people who spoke to the Register described how Oglesby made a maximum effort when he was trying to help the community.He didn't just support the NAACP. He served as a perennial master of ceremonies for the annual freedom fund banquet, doing such a good job the organization made sure he was the MC every year, Jackson said."Geoff was our legal redress chair," said Daryl Murphy, the current NAACP president. "If we had complaints filed, he would go over the complaints."Oglesby also showed up for national NAACP conventions and brought family members with him, Murphy said. Sanders said Oglesby would show up at important school events to support Sanders, even though his children were grown and no longer in the school system."He attended all of our State of the Schools annual events, all of our community forums," Sanders said.Oglesby also allowed his law office to be used for community meetings."He would open his office to anyone and everyone who asked, free of charge," Brandi Oglesby said.When he wasn't working, Oglesby loved taking his grandchildren on cruises, she said.He also loved movies, particularly gangster ones, such as the "Godfather" trilogy and "Goodfellas," and "The Verdict," Paul Newman's courtroom drama, she said, quizzing family members to see if they remembered the best lines. Oglesby's competitive streak came out when he traveled on annual golf outings with Sanders and other friends, giving him a chance to use his large collection of golf shoes. He owned at least two dozen pairs. "He bragged the entire time about how he beat everyone there," Brandi Oglesby said."He kept us amused and entertained for four days straight," Sanders said, describing an outing."There was a little bit of question at times about his ability to add up his score correctly," Sanders said. "It always seemed to be on the low side."Oglesby was also a big Ohio State football fan. When the team won a national championship, he celebrated enthusiastically after midnight with OSU students on the campus, despite his normal habit of retiring to bed early."I swear he was more rowdy than the actual students there," Brandi Oglesby said."He never let you forget he was a graduate of Ohio State," Murphy said. Family members knew better than to try to get Oglesby on the phone when the Buckeyes took the field."You really couldn't get ahold of him during games," she said.OSU football even affected the NAACP's banquets."If Ohio State football was playing, we always got out early," Sanders said.Attorney Geoffrey OglesbyKirk Halliday, center, testifies in a hearing while being questioned with his attorney, Geoffrey Oglesby, left.