Albert W. Vontz Jr., who owned the Cincinnati-based Heidelberg Distributing Co., gave generously of his time and money to support the arts and education in Cincinnati. Mr. Vontz, who resided in the Evergreen Retirement Community in Hartwell, died Sunday at his son's Hyde Park home after a lengthy illness. He was 83.

        “Al was a special kind of person,” University of Cincinnati President Joseph A. Steger said Monday. “He was very big on education. He always supported us. He was a very quiet man. He didn't like to take credit for his gifts.”

        Mr. Vontz donated $5 million to the UC Medical Center to complete financing for a state-of-the-art neuroscience and cancer research facility. The Vontz Center of Molecular Studies opened in 1999. The Albert W. Vontz Professorship of Diabetes was established at UC in honor of Mr. Vontz's $1.5 million gift to the medical school.

        In his support of the arts, Mr. Vontz donated a 26-foot high electronic robot sculpture - called Metrobot — to the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center for the city's 1988 Bicentennial celebration.

        The Vontz Theatre of Cincinnati's Playhouse in the Park is named after Mr. Vontz's father, Albert Sr., as a result of his son's fund-raising and contributions to the Playhouse since the 1970s.

        “Cincinnati is going to suffer a great loss,” Michael Comisar, owner of the Maisonette, said of Mr. Vontz's death.

        A 1937 graduate of Western Hills High School. Mr. Vontz earned a bachelor's degree in economics at UC in 1941 and attended UC Law School before entering the Navy during World War II. He continued in the Naval Reserve until 1978, at one time serving as commander of the destroyer, USS Wells.

        Mr. Vontz's father, a German immigrant to Cincinnati in 1907, invested in the Heidelberg distributorship in Dayton in 1938. Albert Jr. took over management of the company when he came home from the war in 1946. Mr. Vontz helped his father build the business in both Dayton and Cincinnati, acquiring the rights to distribute Anheuser-Busch products in 1959 and 1960.

        Today, Heidelberg is one of Ohio's largest beer and wine distributors, with operations in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Akron, Dayton, Toledo, and Columbus.

        In 1980, Mr. Vontz was named “Wholesaler of the Year” by Time magazine. He was a frequent spokesman for the industry in meetings with state and federal legislators. He served as president and chairman of the national Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America in 1988-89.

        Mr. Vontz is survived by his wife Esther (Essie) Lueders Vontz, of the Evergreen Retirement Community; a son, Albert W. Vontz III of Hyde Park; a daughter, Carol Miller of Oregonia, Ohio; and six grandchildren.

        Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday at the Routsong Funeral Home, 2100 Stroop Road, Kettering, Ohio. The burial service will be private.

        Donations can be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, 10901 Reed Hartman Highway, Suite 202, Cincinnati, Ohio 45242.

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