Obituary for
Joseph Scott Holtzscher
Joseph S. Holtzscher, 60, of Glen Carbon, IL died on Tuesday, November 1, 2016 after a
sudden, brief and brave battle with cancer.
Joe is survived by his wife of 31 years, Nancy Milton Holtzscher; their daughter Katie Holtzscher
and her husband Donald Ladd; his sister and brother in law, Sandra and Jack Dawson; niece
Christine Dawson and great niece Josephine Dawson; mother-in- law Arlayne Milton and
brother/sister-in- law Mark and Sondra Milton. He leaves many dear friends and great
neighbors, his fur kids Stanley and Bella the cats, and everyone else's dogs who will miss his
loving attention. Joe also will be missed by all of his animal friends in the neighborhood,
including his well-fed deer herd, the wild turkeys, birds, squirrels and ducks. He was preceded in
death by his loving parents Joseph J. Holtzscher and Ethel Willaredt Holtzscher.
He was an avid bicyclist who loved introducing others to the fantastic network of trails in
Madison County. In the hospital during his final illness, he was still distributing trail maps to his
doctors and nurses. Joe was proud of resuming his biking hobby in his 50s and he counted a
Century, 100-mile, ride among his many recent accomplishments. A man of many passions, Joe
also was a pinball enthusiast, and he entered his beloved red Mustang convertible in car shows
throughout the region.
Joe and Nancy met at the Mississippi River Festival in the mid-1970s when she stumbled over
him on the lawn at a concert by Chicago. They loved to travel and cruise with favorite
destinations including Istanbul, Athens, Rome, Copenhagen, St. Petersburg, Russia, Lake
Tahoe and Yosemite, Grand Canyon and Zion National Parks. He actively sought out biking
opportunities at every stop on his travels. Joe encouraged everyone to do the things they love
today because you never know what the future holds. He kept his remarkable sense of humor
and good nature to the very end.
Joe was a Network Tier 3 Professional in Advanced Technical Support in the AT&T Technology
Operations division and he had a long career in network architecture and support with AT&T,
McDonnell-Douglas, and IBM. He received the prestigious AT&T Service Excellence Award for
his efforts in 2015. He loved working remotely with his friends, colleagues and clients
throughout the country and across the globe. Joe was a graduate of SIUE with a degree in
Mathematics/Computer Science.
A celebration of Joe's life will be held on Saturday, November 5 at Sunset Hill Funeral Home.
Visitation will take place from 10 a.m. until Noon, followed by services with Pastor Karla Frost
officiating. Joe and his family send grateful thanks to the dedicated doctors and nurses at
Anderson and Barnes-Jewish hospitals. Memorials are suggested to Madison County Transit for
the benefit of the bike trails, Animal Rescue and Relief Foundation (ARRF), Partners for Pets or
St. John United Church of Christ.