Joseph Horvath

Joseph Horvath, our beloved husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather passed away three days after his 97th birthday. Joe was born on June 16, 1920 in Toledo, Ohio to Hungarian immigrants. He entered kindergarten at Birmingham School, but shortly after, both his parents died. He and two of his brothers spent a year at the Lucas County Children's Home before being sent with his younger brother Elmer to a Hungarian orphanage; The Bethlen Home in Ligonier, Pa. Joe lived there throughout his childhood working on the farm. Upon graduation from Ligonier High School, he received a scholarship to St. Vincent's College. Shortly before graduation, World War II began; Joe joined the United States Army. He spent 4 years in the South Pacific under General Douglas MacArthur stationed in Australia. He was discharged in 1945 and returned to college to finish his degree. Thanks to the GI bill, he was able to move to New York City and receive a Master's degree in Eastern European History at Columbia University. Joe taught one year at a college in Connecticut, before returning in 1948 to Toledo and reuniting with his older brothers. He received an additional Master's degree in School Administration at the University of Toledo and taught for the Toledo Public Schools at Robinson and Woodward High School for over 35 years retiring in 1985. During that time, he was President of the former Toledo Teachers Association. Joe was a member of the Conn-Weissenberger Post 587, Sylvania Senior Center and was a long time member of Grace Lutheran Church where he served on the church council and Westgate Chapel. He was also a longtime volunteer of Hospice of Northwest Ohio.

At the age of 40, Joe met and married the love of his life Phyllis Jacks and inherited an instant family with two pre-school step-daughters. Soon after, a beloved son was born.

Because of his many years in the orphanage, family was especially important to Joe and was always cherished. He always said his greatest accomplishment was a family he never had growing up.

Before and after retirement, Joe and Phyllis traveled throughout the United States and after retirement spent many winters in Padre Island, Texas sharing a love of fishing and their Texas grandson.

Left to cherish his memory are his wife of 56 years, Phyllis; stepdaughters Janet Rush of San Antonio and Elaine (Daniel Kory) Canning; and son Joseph William of Toledo; and three grandchildren, Jessica (Michael Bertner) Canning of Durham, NC., Katherine Canning of Chicago and Stephen (Kayla) Rush of Belfast, Ireland; and a great-grandson, Atticus Bertner. He was preceded in death by his parents and siblings Stephen, Julius, Albert and Margaret. His brother Elmer survives.

Services for Joe will be Private. The Newcomer Funeral Home – NW Chapel (419-473-0300) assisted the family with professional services.

The family would like to thank the staff at Parkcliffe for the extraordinary care Joe received during the last 2 years of his life.

Memorials in Joe's honor may be directed to Westgate Chapel or the Alzheimer's Association of Northwest Ohio.

To share a memory of Joe or to leave a special message for his family, please visit the guestbook below.