John J Schwabel

It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of John Jacob Schwabel, 98, of Maumee Ohio on Sunday, November 13. He was born in Upper Sandusky on March 8, 1924 to Charles and Pearl Schwabel (Schoenberger).

As a child he had the reputation as the “ornery” one, and following two academically and athletically accomplished siblings, life could sometimes be rough. He often shared that it sure didn’t help that his father was a police officer, his mother played the piano at the Lutheran Church, his aunts were his school teachers, and his grandpa was the school custodian. He survived. He played a lot of football, hung with friends and graduated from Upper Sandusky. At 19 John (Jake) enlisted in the Army serving in WW II where he received a Purple Heart and the Bronze Star for his valor in the Battle of the Bulge. He became a barber and worked many years at his shop on South and Spencer. He also worked and retired from Southwick Lanes.

John met, fell in love with, and married his best friend, and our mother on April 13, 1947. They spent 65 years together raising their family, traveling the US, camping, and spending winters with their good friends in Fort Myers, Florida. He loved boating, fishing, ( especially fishing -who doesn’t love scaling 200 perch!) golf, and woodworking. He was a visionary when it came to repurposing. For everything had a purpose and a use. He was always focused on finishing projects. He was a hard worker and instilled those traits into his children. There was always a project and there was nothing he couldn’t fix. Dad was dedicated to family, especially our mother. After years of caring at home for our mother she spent 6 years in a memory unit where, without complaint or exception, our dad visited every night for dinner.

John was a loving husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather who will be dearly missed. He leaves to cherish his memory children, Karen (John) Findling, David, (Deb) Schwabel, Bruce (Dawn) Schwabel; grandchildren, Matthew, Aaron, Ryan, John Christopher, Lucas, Cierra ,Megan, Bruce Allen, Kristen, Eric, Isaiah, Olivia, and 23 loving great grandchildren. He was preceded [n death by his wife, Virginia, sister, Donna and her husband Bob Gannon, and brother Carl and his wife Virginia Schwabel

When all those 23 great grandchildren came along they each became fair game for his cane. He loved chasing and poking them whenever they were near.

Visitation will be Thursday, November 17, 2022, from 4:00PM-8:00 PM at Maison-Dardenne-Walker Funeral Home, 501 Conant Street. Maumee, Ohio. Funeral services will be conducted at 10:00AM on Friday at the funeral home with burial to follow at Highland Memory Gardens. Memorial contributions may be given to the Alzheimer’s Association or the Toledo Humane Society. Online condolences may be left to the family at walkerfuneralhomes.com.