Michael James Toth Jr.

Mass of Christian Burial for Michael J. Toth Jr., 81, of Mentor, will be at 9:30 AM Thursday, April 24, 2025 at St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church, 8560 Mentor Ave., Mentor. Family will receive friends 3-7 PM Wednesday at Davis-Babcock Funeral Home, 4154 Clark Ave., Willoughby.

Mike passed away peacefully on April 20, 2025, surrounded and held tight by his loving family. A date that not only fell on Easter Sunday, but one that also marked 57 years of marriage to his beautiful wife, Diane.

Mike was born October 12, 1943, in Cleveland, OH. Raised from humble beginnings in Cleveland Heights, Mike persevered and lived a remarkable and accomplished life. After moving to the Eastlake “Harbor” neighborhood, he attended his beloved North High School, where he wore #33 as a successful high school athlete.

After graduating, Mike joined the U.S. Army and served his country honorably. Upon returning to Ohio, he reconnected with his high school classmate, Diane Bliss, at a dance hall in Geneva-On-The-Lake and married her in April of 1968. On the Monday after their wedding, he went off to the Cleveland Police Academy and began a distinguished career in law enforcement.

Mike served as a patrolman and a member of the tactical unit for the Cleveland Police Department for 7 years, a time he looked back upon fondly and proudly. He left the department to focus on raising a family and to start the first of multiple successful businesses in the security and telecommunication industries. While operating those businesses he simply could not shake “the bug” of continuing his civil service career and became a part-time Mentor Police Officer, serving his community for 34 years.

Mike had an unmatched passion for living. You could often find him captaining his Wellcraft on Lake Erie (“his Lake”), teaching his kids how to water-ski, traveling the world with his wife, fishing with his son, grandkids or friends, playing racquetball, attending Browns and Indians games, or simply “bumming around” town with his kids or grandchildren. He also had a taste for adventure where you could find him piloting his Cessna plane at 12,000 feet in the sky or scuba diving with sharks and shipwrecks at the bottom of the oceans in South America. But one of his greatest joys was being “Coach” - not only to his own children, but to several generations of Concord Girls Softball players, leading them to 5 national tournaments. He loved all of his players like family, a love that was reciprocated for years to follow.

Mike considered his greatest success to be marrying his wife Diane and raising their four children Laura, Lynn, Alison, and Michael. As a father and a husband, he had a unique bond with each of them, one that endured to his final minutes. He personified what it means to be a family leader.

Survivors include his wife, Diane (Bliss) Toth of 57 years; children, Laura (Gary) Leggett, Lynn (Don) Qualters, Ali (Dennis) Dreher, and Michael J. Toth III; grandchildren, Kelsey, Lexie (Donny Watters), Donny, Lindsey, Andrew, Avery, Ava and MJ, and great grandchild Miley. He is also survived by his dear sister Patricia (late Jack) McCaskey, who he called “Gig” from childhood-on. He was “Uncle Mike” to his 5 nephews and their families. Mike was preceded in death by his parents, Michael Sr. and Colette Toth, and his aunt, Margaret Sedlak.

The family would like to express special gratitude to all of Mike’s caregivers over the last several years.

Final resting place will be in Mentor Cemetery. Family suggests contributions be made to Hospice of the Western Reserve, PO Box 72101, Cleveland, Ohio 44192-0002 or donate online at https://hospicewr.org/tribute