John C. Boesenhofer

John Carl Boesenhofer, 94, of Toledo, Ohio, formerly of Perkasie, Pennsylvania, passed away in Toledo Hospital on Monday, September 28, 2009. He was the beloved husband of the late Ruth Irene (Reichley) Boesenhofer. They were married for 45 years until her death in 1984.

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he was the son of the late John and Julia (Lagler) Boesenhofer. Soon after his birth, the family moved to a farm in Perkasie. One of John’s earliest memories was hearing church bells ringing across the countryside, announcing the end of World War I.

As a young man, he worked on the family farm with his parents, his sister, and his brother. He was later employed for several years stitching major league baseballs.

In 1939 John married Ruth Irene Reichley, the girl he had met some years earlier in Luther League.

Employed for more than ten years at the Perkasie post office, he also served part-time as organist-choir director at St. Andrew's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Perkasie, and St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Fricks, Hilltown Township, Pennsylvania.

In 1950 he entered Westminster Choir College, Princeton, New Jersey, as a full-time student. While at college, John studied vocal and choral methods under John and Helen Kemp, Harold Hedgpeth, Herbert Pate, Walter Johnson, Robert Simpson, and John Finley Williamson, founder of the College. He studied organ under David Hugh Jones, George Markey, Donald MacDonald, and Alexander McCurdy.

As a member of the Symphonic Choir, John sang at Carnegie Hall in New York and the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, under some of the great conductors of the day: Bruno Walter, Dimitri Mitropolus, Leopold Stokowski, and Eugene Ormandy.

He received a Bachelor of Music degree in 1953 and a Master's Minister of Music degree in 1954.

John successively served as organist-choir director at Trinity United Methodist, in Newport News, Virginia; Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran, in Kingsport, Tennessee; St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran, in Easton, Pennsylvania; Augsburg Evangelical Lutheran and Christ Presbyterian, both in Toledo, Ohio; and, from 1980 until his retirement in December 2008, at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, in Toledo.

Mrs. Boesenhofer and their daughter, Julie Ann, became talented soloists and a tremendous aid in John’s church work.

John was an active member of the Eleanor Kahle Senior Center, Toledo, and the Toledo Chapter of the American Guild of Organists until his death. In earlier years, he had been a member of the national Choristers Guild, and, in Perkasie, the Lion’s Club.

From 1993 to 2008, he organized and directed a choir at the Kahle Senior Center to sing in area nursing homes and for special church events and civic affairs.

John participated in various sports, both as a player and fan. As recently as 2004, he occasionally pitched for the church softball team. He was an active member of two bowling leagues and a local gym, and played pool and table tennis at the Senior Center.

Since 1981, he had earned several hundred medals in track and field, bowling, and table tennis at Regional, State (Ohio, Michigan, and Kentucky), and National Senior Olympics.

Mr. Boesenhofer attended all the National Senior Olympics from 1987 through 2007. In the 2005 National Games, in Pittsburgh, he participated in seven events, winning six gold medals and one silver medal and setting American records in shot put, javelin, high jump, long jump, and pole vault for ages 90-95. The shot put and javelin results were also World Records. The sixth gold medal was for discus, and the silver medal for the 100-meter dash.

At the 2007 National Games in Louisville, Kentucky, in addition to repeating many of his medal-winning efforts, John was recognized during the "Celebration of Athletes" ceremony, along with the other eight or nine athletes who had participated in every National Senior Olympic competition to that date.

This past June, he competed in the Regional Senior Games, taking gold in shot put, discus, and javelin. He was inducted into the State of Ohio Senior Olympic Hall of Fame in July 2009.

John was an active member of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Toledo.

Mr. Boesenhofer is survived by his daughter, Julie Ann Boesenhofer, of Toledo; a sister-in-law; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

In addition to his wife and parents, John was preceded in death by a sister, Elsie, and a brother, William.

A Funeral Service will be held Friday, October 9, 2009, at 11:00 AM in St. Andrew’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Dill Avenue and Chestnut Street, Perkasie, PA 18944, where family and friends may call from 10:00 AM until time of service.

Interment will be conducted in St. Andrew’s Union Cemetery, Perkasie.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Andrew’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, P.O. Box 257, Perkasie, PA 18944; Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 2450 Westbrook Drive, Toledo, OH 43613; or the Lutheran Community at Telford, 235 North Washington Street, Telford, PA 18969.