Former Hamilton County Domestic Relations Judge Jon Henry Sieve died Thursday, just weeks after finishing his most recent term. He was 69.
Sieve, a proud West Sider, came from a family known for its political service and for operating one of the oldest Pontiac dealerships in the country.
He served as a Hamilton County Common Pleas Court judge from 2011 to Jan. 4.
"He acted as a very good judge, but to me, and I think the people around him, knew him more importantly as a good person," said Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Pat Dinkelacker. "He's a great, great example of what a domestic relations judge should be."
His wife, Cheryl Sieve, is a Delhi Township trustee and his sister, Sylvia Sieve Hendon, is a retired judge who served on the Hamilton County municipal and common pleas court benches before being elected to the Ohio First District Court of Appeals.
Jon Sieve was general manager and then owner of Sieve Pontiac in Westwood from 1976 to 2006.
Sieve’s grandfather, Henry Sieve Sr., established the business as an Oakland Motor Car dealership in Delhi Township in 1922.
Shortly thereafter, General Motors rebranded it under the Pontiac name.
The dealership was passed down to Jon Sieve’s father, Henry Sieve Jr., and aunt before falling to Jon Sieve in 1984 – the same year the dealership moved from West Price Hill to its current location at 2300 Ferguson Road.
“This is the longest established Pontiac dealership in the United States. There are no other original Oakland/Pontiac franchises remaining in this country, except for ourselves,” Sieve told The Enquirer in 1999.
“There is virtually nobody (who is a native) in Western Hills who has not had some dealing, themselves or their grandparents, with the dealership.”
Sieve originally wanted to pursue a career in medicine, Hendon said, adding her brother "took a left turn" when their father asked him to take over the dealership. He obtained a law degree, ran the dealership for 30 years and practiced law on the side, Sieve's sister said.
Hendon said Sieve was known to make people laugh, but not many really knew how funny he was because of his dry wit. "He was a very bright man who wasn't very showy," she said.
Sieve graduated from St. Xavier High School in 1972 and earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Notre Dame in 1976 and a law degree at the University of Cincinnati College of Law in 1979.
He had a private law practice from 1979 to 2008.
From 2008 until 2011, Sieve was a magistrate in Hamilton County’s domestic relations division.
When he was running for judge in 2010, Sieve told the League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area that one of his priorities would be to ensure everyone had access to the courts and that they were treated with respect and dignity.
“Domestic Relations Court makes decisions that affect individuals and families for decades, and we must always educate ourselves and understand each case so that the best possible judgment is made,” he said.
A visitation will be held Jan. 27 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Radel Funeral Home in Delhi Township. A mass is scheduled for Jan. 28 at 10 a.m. at Mount Saint Joseph University's Mater Dei Chapel .
Memorial donations can be made to the Children's Home of Cincinnati in Madisonville.
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