Ralph E. Schey, retired chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Scott Fetzer Co., former member of the Ohio Board of Regents and benefactor of Ohio University’s College of Business, died Sunday, Sept. 11, at age 87.

The former Westlake resident led the $1 billion conglomerate Scott Fetzer, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, from 1974 until retiring in 2000. Schey most recently lived in Gates Mills.

Schey was appointed to the Ohio Board of Regents by then-Gov. George Voinovich in 1996. He served on the nine-member board that advises the governor, the legislature and state universities on long-range financing and policy issues affecting higher education, until 2004.

That same year, he and his wife Luci donated $1 million to Ohio University’s College of Business. The couple also helped establish the Ralph and Luci Schey Sales Centre at the university in 1997.  Both had served on the OU Foundation Board.

Schey, who graduated from OU with a bachelor’s degree in commerce in 1948, served on the university’s board of trustees from 1987-96. He also graduated from West Technical High School in Cleveland and the Harvard Business School.

During World War II, he served with the Army’s 249th Combat Engineering Battalion.

Schey was a former executive vice president of Clevite Corp. and founder and chairman of Primus Capital Fund. He served on the Harvard University Advisory Board and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation board of trustees.

Survivors include his wife, Luci (nee McCollum); children, Larry and Kathy Schey Hunter; and four grandchildren.

Calling hours are 2-4 and 5-8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15, at Schulte & Mahon-Murphy Funeral Home, 5252 Mayfield Road, Lyndhurst.

Services will take place at 1 p.m. Friday, Sept. 16, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 2747 Fairmount Blvd., Cleveland Heights.

Donations may be made to The Ohio University Foundation for the Ralph and Luci Schey Sales Centre Endowment, P.O. Box 869, Athens, OH 45701;  The Cleveland Clinic, Attn: Schey Center for Advanced Cognitive Function, P.O. Box 931517, Cleveland, OH 44193; or St. Christopher by the River, 7601 Old Mill Rd., P.O. Box 519, Gates Mills, OH 44040.