By Dan Klepal
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Bartender Roberta Patton has fond memories of serving Marge Schott in the 1980s. She "drank cheap vodka and she was a millionaire," says Patton. Schott was generous with her tips and she was certainly "no snob," adds Patton. The Cincinnati Enquirer/TONY JONES

Marge Schott always appreciated a good sales pitch, and Dan Roche threw a strike.

Roche, executive director of the Milford Spiritual Center, was asking Schott for a donation that would help pay for a major renovation of the center's pavilion. Roche knew how important the center had been to Schott's father, Edward Unnewehr, and her extended family. So he found an old photo of Schott's father and uncle smoking cigars at the center in the 1930s, and sent them to her.

A few days later, the phone rang. It was Schott.

"Dan," she said. "You should have been a used car salesman. You got me. The picture did it. How much do you want?"

Roche wasn't sure what to make of the salesman comment, but decided it was a compliment and asked for $150,000. The check arrived a few days later.

MARGE SCHOTT: 1928-2004

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One day after Schott died Tuesday at age 75, many people remembered the former Cincinnati Reds owner just the way Roche does: a generous, plain-spoken lady who was always quick with a quip that usually landed somewhere between insult and compliment.

To Roberta Patton, Schott was a good-tipping customer at a downtown bar in the 1980s where many baseball players hung out. Marge was a regular, too. Her beverage of choice? Kamchatka vodka - a $2 well drink. Patton said she could always count on an extra 20 percent from Marge.

"I loved Marge because she smoked her cigarettes, drank cheap vodka and she was a millionaire," Patton, 45 of Price Hill, said between serving drinks at Jim and Jack's bar on River Road. "In other words, she wasn't a snob. She was down-to-earth and spoke her mind.

"I remember when she had to go through sensitivity training. I thought, oh boy, she'll never make it through that - especially if she's got a couple of Kamchatkas in her. She was one of a kind."

Jim Crask, a salesman at Schott Buick, said he's a relative newcomer, having been an employee for two years. But he said he never felt that way around his boss.

"Marge was here every day, and loved this place" Crask said. "She never met a stranger. She'd sit down and talk to anybody and make them feel right at home."

Schott was a favorite with the Rosie Reds, and always made sure the fan club had two cars and a driver for the Opening Day parade - a convertible in case it was warm, a hard-top in case it was cold.

Sandi Wilcox, former president of the fan club, said that more than anything, Schott always took time with people to make them feel as if they mattered. After one benefit at Schott's Indian Hill home, Wilcox left an autographed baseball at her home. She didn't even bother to ask about it until bumping into Schott a few days later.

Schott said she'd check on the baseball. Wilcox got a call the next day - at 8:30 a.m. on a Sunday.

"She had it and told me she'd keep it in the safe at the dealership," Wilcox said. "A lot of people just wouldn't have bothered, but she cared enough to go home and check.

"I think a lot of people could identify with her. She'd had a hard time in running her club and running her life. She was a strong woman who was as down-to-earth as could be.

"I just hope she is in a better place and can see all the love and support that is coming her way, maybe later than it should have."

E-mail dklepal@enquirer.com