Joseph Harry Froetschel

Joseph Harry Froetschel of Upper St Clair, PA, 88

Joseph Harry Froetschel died on July 23, 2016, at John J. Kane Scott Regional Center after battling cancer. He was born March 25, 1928, in Pittsburgh, PA, to the late Sarah Elizabeth Rogers Froetschel and John G. Froetschel. He graduated from Crafton High School in 1946 and served in the U.S. Navy shortly after World War II. He received a degree in accounting from Robert Morris College in 1951 while working as a night-shift track walker for the railroad. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Jeanne Marie Riley Froetschel, in 1964. He met Patricia O'Leary Richardson at the Widows and Widowers Club at St. Mary of Mercy Catholic Parish in downtown Pittsburgh, and they married in 1969, combining two families with seven children, ranging from age 6 to 15, with numerous comparisons to The Brady Bunch, the television show premiering that same year. He was a senior accountant with several firms and contributed innovative ideas on marketing and finance for employers that included Dravo Corporation, Mac & Mac Construction, Albert Packing and Allegheny County including John J. Kane Hospital, where his children had been active volunteers. He retired from the county in 1993. He was a longtime member of the American Legion and the National Association of Clock and Watch Collectors. An avid antique collector, with a special interest in clocks and watches, he was a regular at estate sales, auctions, clock shows and flea markets, especially Trader Jack's – selling his collection and giving the rest to his children and grandchildren over the years. A lifelong fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Steelers and active in Democratic politics, he also enjoyed gardening and mowing the lawn, fishing, golf, horseshoes, hunting and watching deer, rabbits and birds in his backyard. He is survived by a loving family including his wife, Patricia; three sons, Jeffrey Richardson of Durham, NC; Mark A. Froetschel and his wife, Dana, of Crawford, GA; and Vince Richardson, and his wife, Jane, of Washington, PA, and four daughters, Susan Froetschel and her husband, Douglas P. Olsen, of East Lansing; MI, Terri Richardson Ballengee and her husband, Timothy, of Cary, North Carolina; Laurie Richardson Mitchell and her husband, Jeffrey, of Durham, North Carolina, and Joyce Froetschel Malley and her husband, Joseph, of Bellevue, WA; sisters Elizabeth Froetschel and Caroline Froetschel Butter of the Pittsburgh area and brother, William Froetschel of California; and ten grandchildren Nicholas Olsen of Baton Rouge, LA; Tyler and Madison Ballengee of Cary, NC; Erin Jay and husband Michael, David, and Joseph Froetschel of Crawford, GA; Peter and Joan Jude Richardson of Washington, PA; Liam and Margaret Malley of Bellevue, WA; and one great-granddaughter, Penelope Jay. He was preceded in death by his brother, Jack Froetschel, and infant son Joseph Harry Froetschel.