Lois Jean Hucke, 90, passed away on Sept. 27, 2020. She was born at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Dayton, Ohio to Catherine and Carl Hucke. She is preceded in death by her parents, her sister Margaret (Fred, deceased) Kath, niece Kristina (Rick, deceased) Kath Jones, great niece Meredith Jones Hyche, and life-long dear friend, Jodi Barber. She is survived by her sister, Charlene Grigsby (Chuck, deceased), nieces Nancy Grigsby (CJ Williams) and Susan Kath (Steve Schindler) and great nieces Emma Schindler, Alexandra Schindler and Sarah Jones Zellhoefer. Jean is survived by legions of friends in Dayton, at the Villages and at Wickshire Senior Living where she was most recently residing. Jean’s many friends, who were like family, will miss her more than words can express.
For most of her life in Dayton, Jean was a member of St. Paul Lutheran Church. She was a great softball player in her time, and was inducted into the Ohio Women’s Softball Hall of Fame. Jean was a Telecommunications Manager at NCR for 44 years, entering the workforce at a time when women’s professional roles were still relatively new in our society. Upon her retirement, she was given, and fearlessly took, a hot air balloon ride. Jean loved to travel and was an avid fan of University of Dayton basketball and Ohio State University football. She spent many years of retirement at The Villages in Florida, and had returned to live in Dayton again in 2019.
Jean and Jodi’s nieces and nephews fondly remember rides in her convertible Mustang and her boat at Rocky Fork Lake, many trips to Coney Island, days at Old River, her turtles, and the love of joy she and Jodi instilled in us. In life, Jean was fun loving, kind, loved to make people laugh, and never spoke negatively about others. Especially in these times, may we all carry on her sense of humor, kindness and her way of finding the good in everything and everyone. A celebration of Jean’s life will be held next Spring after the Covid pandemic has hopefully ended. In lieu of flowers, please consider a gift to The Foodbank of Dayton, Ohio or the Sea Turtle Conservancy of Gainesville, Florida.
