Joseph W. Hirsch Jr. passed from this life peacefully in his sleep, at home, on November 23, 2020. He was 89 years old. Joe was an independent, straight-talking, hard-working man with a soft heart for children and dogs. He will be greatly missed by his wife, Betty, children Mary Beth, Nancy (Doug) and Joe (Laura), his grandchildren Marco (Ivana), Alan, Clare (Jake), Allie, Lola and Max, and great-grandchildren Isabella, Petra, Anja, Lily and Isaac.
Joe was preceded in death by his parents and his sister Nancy. Their families enjoyed decades of fishing vacations together in Canada and The Bahamas. They are survived by brother-in-law Chuck Lofquist, and nephews Chuck, Eric, Tom and Bill and their families, and Joe’s sister Mary Bell Huston, niece Nancy, nephew David, and their families.
Joe was married to Betty for 66 years. They met at a college dance when he was attending the University of Pittsburgh and started their marriage while he served in the Army during the Korean conflict. Joe and Betty lived in five states during their long life together, always making new life-long friends and joining the local Presbyterian church, where Joe would help lead the finance and property committees. They left many dear friends in Mt. Vernon, OH, to live near their daughters in Columbus, and joined Maple Grove UMC with their daughter Nancy. Joe’s health challenges kept him from getting very involved there, but he enjoyed his Sunday School classes. He was always someone wanting to explore and learn. He wanted to figure things out. This led Joe to build two businesses over the years, after he left his long-time management position at Ryan Homes.
From their father, Nancy learned to love gardening and plants, and Joe learned about building and problem solving, and found his life work along that path. Mary Beth learned she had a deep reservoir of patience and love as she cared for him in his final year of decline. Our family is thankful for the loving hospice care support of Chelsea and Michelle, and of night aides Mohamed and Susan.
Friends and family may join the online memorial service at 4 pm on Wednesday, December 2, 2020. The service will be streamed on the Maple Grove United Methodist Church website: maplegroveumc.org. StreamSpot will be visible on the lower right side of the home page and will begin live-streaming about ten minutes before the start of the service. The Hirsch family hopes that you will be able to greet them during a virtual reception following the service, using Zoom. Please email JWH.Memorial.Service@gmail.com with your name to receive a link to the Zoom virtual reception line, and a copy of the Order of Worship. The family will email you the links and instructions.
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