Edward Claus Sr., a whiz at the repair of coin-operated amusements whose career stretched from the heyday of jukeboxes and pinball machines to Pac-Man, died Jan. 4 in the West Toledo, Ohio, home of his son Ken.
Claus, 90, had a disorder in which his bone marrow did not produce red blood cells, a complication of treatment from lung and brain cancer, his son said. Nearly 30 years before, he recovered from bladder cancer.
He retired from full-time work in the 1990s, but made repairs part time for a vending company until about five years ago.
The first half of Claus’ career, about 25 years, was with Main Novelty Co. in East Toledo. He met plenty of colorful characters in the business and as he visited taverns and nightclubs to make repairs or install machines.
“He could tell you all kinds of stories about Toledo in the old days,” Ken Claus said.
Main Novelty had specialized in pinball, but after World War II began to install new plastic jukeboxes into venues where it had pinball machines. In April 1946, an explosion blew out the rear door of the firm, and Toledo police investigated whether jukebox operators in Cleveland, concerned about losing business, intended the blast to warn its customers “that they might come to harm if they used the Toledo company’s music boxes,” according to a Blade report then.
Edward Claus closed his career at Deluxe Vending, where he worked for 25 years. He regularly learned the latest repair tips at seminars in Chicago, but he seemed a natural at fixing things. He could take a malfunctioning pinball bowling machine, full of contacts and switches, and “he’d know exactly what switch to fix,” his son said.
“He was the best in town,” Ken Claus said. “He lived through the era of all the video machines, the Space Invaders and Pac-Man. He was great at fixing those things, even the electronics.”
Edward Claus made yearly trips to Las Vegas, where several family members lived, but left the slot machines to others. His game was craps.
He was born Jan. 29, 1924, to Hazel and William Claus and grew up in North Toledo.
He and his wife, Nancy, married Oct. 31, 1955. She died in 2006.
Surviving are his sons Edward Jr. and Kenneth Claus; a daughter, Cecelia Claus; brothers Don and Frank Claus; seven grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren.
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