Lakewood Lore

Top mob-buster was once a Lakewoodite

Vernon H. Lieblein, who will be 87 on Dec.2., is a Lakewood old-timer with a good memory. An electrician, he founded his own company here in 1924 and remembers most of his customers down through the years.

Among them were crime-busting Eliot Ness and Judge Neil W. McGill, one-time resident of Abbieshire.

Before the late McGill occupied the Ohio Court of Appeals bench, he served as a prosecutor working with the legendary Ness. Ness lived at two places in Lakewood -- the Hampton House apartments at 10017 Lake Ave. and in a Clifton Lagoon boathouse owned by Vernon Stouffer, famous food business tycoon.

As safety director of Cleveland in the late 1930s, Ness cleaned up mob vice, police corruption and labor racketeering.

After he died at age 53, he became a national hero in the television series "The Untouchables" featuring Robert Stack. According to Lieblein, who has lived on Clifton Boulevard for the past 59 years, Ness was a riddle.

"Ness was not the gun-flashing, rough-and-tumble guy that many imagine," said Lieblein. "He was handsome, soft-spoken, relaxed, with a boyish smile. He did not seem mature enough at 32 to cope with the underworld, but he met the challenge beyond expectations."

This article by Dan Chabek appeared in the Lakewood Sun Post November 17, 1988. Reprinted with permission.

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