DENIHAN, WILLIAM (March 26, 1937-May 23, 2022) was a public servant in the City of Cleveland and the State of Ohio. Born to William Denihan and Sue Ella Wood, he grew up in a housing project in EUCLID. As a young man, he attended St. Joseph High School and CUYAHOGA COMMUNITY COLLEGE before serving three years in the U.S. Army.
Denihan began his career in public service in 1973 when he took a job as Deputy Administrator of the Ohio Bureau of Worker’s Compensation. He delved wholeheartedly into this work, uncovering a $10 million fraud scheme and serving as the bureau’s claims director. After a stint in the private sector, Denihan entered the public arena again in 1979 when Cuyahoga County Commissioner ROBERT SWEENEY asked him to serve as the county personnel director tasked with streamlining employee contracts.
From 1982 until 2017, Denihan worked an unbroken three-and-a-half decades in public service. In a one-year term as county recorder, he cut his office’s budget and reduced staff. Governor Richard Celeste expected a similar outcome when he named Denihan Ohio’s Personnel Director. He pushed for the right to collective bargaining in both this role and as director of the State Employment Relations Board. Denihan brought this combination of thrift and respect for workers while serving throughout the Celeste administration and directing the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Highway Safety, and a Special Commission on Nuclear Power Safety.
Just before Governor Celeste’s tenure ended, Denihan moved back to Cleveland to work under MAYOR MICHAEL WHITE. In 1990, he was named the city’s Director of Public Service, overseeing infrastructure programs and establishing the city’s first recycling program. Three years later, he took the reins of the Department of Public Safety, planning for such notable events as the opening of PROGRESSIVE FIELD and the re-interment of the remains of former Safety Director ELLIOTT NESS to LAKE VIEW CEMETERY. He finished his career working for Cuyahoga County, as director of the Department of Family Services, then as the head of the Mental Health Board, before finally serving for eight years as the CEO of the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Board before retiring in August 2017.
Other than a failed bid for Cleveland mayor in 2001, Denihan never sought public election. Still, he gained frequent public recognition for his work. Bishop Anthony Pilla asked him in 2002 to lead a special commission to give the diocese direction in the wake of sex abuse scandals. At age 61 he received a B.A. from Cleveland State University College of Urban Studies. CSU later awarded him with an Honorary Degree, as “Doctor of Public Service.” He also received the Irish American Archives Society’s WALKS OF LIFE AWARD in 2018.
Denihan was married four times. His final marriage was in 1989 to Mary Kovacic, the daughter of Cleveland police chief Ed Kovacic. He had seven children and four stepchildren. Denihan died on May 23, 2022, and is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in BROOK PARK.
Daniel Brennan