John R. Essex

25 May 1926 - 30 January 1987 

"John Reed Essex, 60, 230 E. Oak St., a former Celina educator for many years, died at 2:45 p.m. at his residence Friday of Alzheimer's Disease.

Mr. Essex was born May 25, 1926, in Fort Wayne, Ind., son of the late Reed Essex and Jeanne [Yager] Essex, who survives in Payne. He was married June 2, 1948 to Norma Keck, who also survives, with a son, John Redd Essex Jr., and a daughter-in-law, Kathleen, Sandusky; a daughter, Mrs. Joan Brown, Celina; an aunt, Julia Emanuel, Fort Wayne; and four grandchildren, Gretchen and Spencer Brown and Bethany and Andrew Essex. He was preceded in death by a daughter, Ann Elizabeth Essex, on June 29, 1969.

Mr. Essex served in the navy during World War II. A graduate of Defiance College and Ohio State University, he had done graduate work at Indiana-Purdue University. He was a messenger clerk for the Ohio House of Representatives part-time for five years.

A member of St. John Lutheran Church, Celina, he was a biology teacher at Celina High School from 1955-83 and director of adult education programs for 12 years. He was a life member of the Ohio Retired Teachers' Association and the Ohio State University Association, and a member of Alpha Gamma Upsilon Fraternity, Celina, Western Ohio and Ohio Education Associations, Celina Lions Club, American Legion Post No. 210 and Biology Teachers' Association.

He also served a Celina High's ticket sales manager-athletic director for 11 years, baseball coach and assistant footbal coach, and was a member of the Ohio High School Athletic Directors' Association. He was a security guard at New Idea in Coldwater during the summer months.

Services will be held at 3 p.m. Monday at St. John Lutheran Church, Celina, the Rev. Douglas R. Meyer officiating. Burial will be in North Grove Cemetery.

Friends may call at W.H. Dick and Sons Funeral Home, Celina, 2-5 and 7-9 p.m. Sunday. The body will lie in state at the church form 1 p.m. Monday until time of the services.

Memorials may be given to the St. John Lutheran Church, or the Auglaize-Mercer Counties Alzheimer's Support Group."

The Daily Standard