Representative Ronald Milton Mottl

Ronald Milton Mottl (February 6, 1934 – October 13, 2023) was an American lawyer and Democratic politician who served four terms as a Representative from Ohio in the United States Congress from 1975 to 1983 and held office in the Ohio General Assembly for multiple decades. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Miroslav Václav Josef Mottl and Anna Hummel, both of Czech descent. His father, an immigrant from Počaply in what is now the Czech Republic, died of chronic valvular heart disease when Ronald was 11 years old. His mother, who had been born in Pittsburgh to parents from Kvaň and Mýto, later remarried Václav Schovánek from Kladno, further anchoring the family in its Central European heritage.

Mottl grew up in the Cleveland suburb of Parma, Ohio, and attended Parma Schaaf High School, from which he graduated in 1952. An accomplished athlete, he later was inducted into the school’s athletic hall of fame, reflecting his early prominence in local scholastic sports. After high school, he enrolled at the University of Notre Dame, where he continued his athletic pursuits by playing baseball for the university in 1955. In addition to his academic and athletic endeavors, he served in the United States Army Reserves in 1957, fulfilling a period of military service during the Cold War era.

Trained as a lawyer, Mottl entered public life at the local level in Parma. He was elected to the Parma City Council, serving from 1960 to 1966, where he began building a reputation as a diligent and accessible public servant. He then advanced to state office, winning election to the Ohio state legislature in 1966. Mottl served in the Ohio General Assembly from 1967 until 1975, participating in state-level legislative deliberations during a period marked by urban growth, evolving social policy, and shifting economic conditions in Ohio’s industrial communities.

In 1974, Mottl was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a Democrat and took office in January 1975. He served four consecutive terms, remaining in Congress until January 1983. His service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history, encompassing the aftermath of the Watergate scandal, economic turbulence in the late 1970s, and the early years of the Reagan administration. A conservative Democrat, Mottl often aligned with more moderate and conservative elements within his party and became known as an ally of President Ronald Reagan’s legislative agenda on certain key issues, reflecting the complex ideological currents within the Democratic Party at the time. Throughout his tenure, he participated in the legislative process and represented the interests of his Ohio constituents in the House of Representatives. In 1982, he lost the Democratic primary to Ed Feighan, thereby losing his seat in Congress after four terms in office.

Following his departure from Congress, Mottl returned to local public service in the Parma area. He was elected to the Parma school board, serving from 1985 until 1986, and in 1986 he became president of the board, underscoring his continued engagement with education and community governance. Later in 1986, he was elected again to the Ohio House of Representatives, resuming his role in the state legislature. He served in the Ohio House until 1997, extending his long tenure in the Ohio General Assembly and reinforcing his status as a veteran state legislator. After leaving the legislature, he sought to continue his public career and was an unsuccessful candidate for mayor of North Royalton, Ohio, in 1999.

Mottl’s family life paralleled his public career. He had four children: a son, Ronald Jr., and a daughter from his first marriage, and a son and daughter from his second marriage to Debbie. His commitment to public service carried into the next generation; Ronald Mottl Jr. served one term in the Ohio House of Representatives from 1997 to 1998, immediately succeeding his father in that body, thereby continuing the family’s involvement in state politics.

Ronald Milton Mottl died on October 13, 2023, at the age of 89. His long career in local, state, and national office, including four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1975 to 1983 and many years in the Ohio General Assembly, left a durable imprint on the political life of his district and the state of Ohio.