Obituaries

Jan 19, 2025

John P. "Jack" DeLano, age 82 of Ayersville, passed away peacefully on Sunday, January 19, 2025 at CHP Defiance Area Inpatient Hospice Center. He was born in West Springfield, Massachusetts on June 15, 1942 to Wilbert Kilbourne DeLano and Beatrice (Parmelee) DeLano. Jack was an older brother to his very much loved sister, Marjorie "Mimi". Jack met Carol Ludwig...

Jan 19, 2025

Kathleen M. M. Patterson, age 73 of Defiance, passed away peacefully on Sunday, January 19, 2025 surrounded by her loved ones at CHP Defiance Area Inpatient Hospice Center. She was born on May 2, 1951 to Nelson and Joanne (Quinn) Marsh in Toledo, Ohio. Kathleen was a graduate of Rogers High School in Toledo. On May 9, 1973 she...

Jan 18, 2025

Bernard E. "Gene" Ankney, 67, of Defiance, passed away on Saturday, January 18, 2025 at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center in Toledo, Ohio. He was born on March 26, 1957 to Donald and Barbara (VanScoder) Ankney in Defiance, Ohio. On June 30, 2009 he married Cynthia Miller who survives. Gene worked at Johns Manville for over 44 years until...

Jan 17, 2025

Dorothy May Berner, age 82 of Defiance, passed away on Friday, January 17, 2025 at the Laurels of Defiance.

She was born in Lockport, New York on February 8, 1942 to John and Beatrice (Randolph) Koller. On February 14, 1966, she married Roger Berner, who preceded her in death on November 7, 2020.

Dorothy was...

Jan 15, 2025

Beatrice A. Grossheim, age 92 of Defiance, peacefully passed away on Wednesday, January 15, 2025. She was born on August 6, 1932 to the late Cyril and Zita (McCarthy) Arend in Paulding County, Ohio. She was a 1946 graduate of St. John Catholic Grade School, and graduated from Defiance High School in 1950. In 1961 she married Donald Shinners...

Jan 14, 2025

Reynaldo "Vato Loco Ray" Garcia Jr., 69, of Defiance, peacefully hit those gold streets on two wheels surrounded by his loving family on January 14, 2025, at Mercy Defiance Hospital.

Born on May 6, 1955, in Saginaw, MI, he was the second youngest child of Reynaldo and Maria (Ruiz) Garcia. Ray graduated from Pettisville High School in...

Jan 14, 2025

Ronald L. Comden, age 58 of Defiance, peacefully passed away surrounded by his loved ones on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 at CHP Defiance Area Inpatient Hospice Center. He was born on September 4, 1966 to Robert and Beverly (Wheeler) Comden in Bryan, Ohio. Ron was a 1985 graduate of Fairview High School. On November 3, 2001 he married Mary...

Jan 14, 2025

Dale Marvin Sebring, age 70 of Bryan, Ohio, passed away on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 at CHP Defiance Area Inpatient Hospice Center.

He was born on August 20, 1954 to the late Marvin and Patricia (Colegrove) Sebring in Wauseon, Ohio. Dale was a 1972 graduate of Fayette High School. He proudly served in the U.S. Navy from...

Jan 14, 2025

Reda C. Helton, age 84 of Evansport, passed away on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 at Brookview Healthcare Center in Defiance, Ohio, surrounded by her loving family. She was born in Richmond, Virginia on July 4, 1940 to Lester and Margaret Eva (Solomon) Hughes. Reda was a 1958 graduate of Pikeville High School. On February 5, 1960 she married Foye...

Jan 13, 2025

Larry Gaskill, age 81, of Defiance, passed away on Monday evening, January 13, 2025 at CHP Defiance Area Inpatient Hospice Center. He was born on April 24, 1943 to Clarence and Fern (Stock) Gaskill in Defiance, Ohio. He married Cathy Skiver in 1967. Larry was a 1961 graduate of Defiance High School and served in the U.S. Navy from...

Jan 13, 2025

Essie Schindler, age 81 of Defiance, passed away Monday evening, January 13, 2025 at CHP Defiance Area Inpatient Hospice Center. She was born in Manchester, Kentucky on October 14, 1943 to Thomas and Virginia (Duff) Powell. On May 25, 1968 she married John Schindler, who preceded her in death on January 6, 2012. Essie was a member of St...

Jan 12, 2025

Larry Michael Mekus, 72, of Venice, Florida went to his eternal rest peacefully at home on January 12, 2025. Larry was born on April 28, 1952 in Defiance, Ohio. He married his high school sweetheart, Susan (Zipfel) Mekus on May 15, 1970.

Larry started working at General Motors, Defiance, Ohio on December 7, 1970, retiring in 2001...

Jan 11, 2025

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of James "Jim" B. Antoine, a devoted father, proud Marine, and steadfast man of faith. He departed this world on Saturday, January 11, 2025 at the age of 94 at CHP Defiance area Inpatient Hospice Center. Despite his years, Jim was young at heart and full of life, so...

Jan 10, 2025

Ronald C. Hesselschwardt, known also as Ronnie, Ron, dad, Pop and grandpa by those who knew and loved him, passed peacefully January 10th at the age of 78 surrounded by those he loved.

Ron was born August 20th,1946 in Defiance, OH to Gilbert and Pauline (Gutman) Hesselschwardt. Ron was a graduate of Fairview High School class of...

Jan 9, 2025

Steven B. Schomaeker, age 66 of Defiance, passed away on Thursday, January 9, 2025. He was born on March 29, 1958 to William and Arla (Sager) Schomaeker in Lima, Ohio. Steven proudly served our country in the U.S. Navy. He worked for AA Fire Extinguishers for several years. Steven enjoyed camping, watching football, and absolutely loved being with his...

Jan 6, 2025

James L. Smith, age 80, of Defiance, peacefully passed away on Monday, January 6, 2025 surrounded by his loved ones. He was born on March 1, 1944 to Dallas and Mattie (Groll) Smith in Defiance, Ohio. Jim was a 1963 graduate of Ayersville High School. On December 31, 1983 he married Pamela (Peabody) Smith, who preceded him in death...

Jan 5, 2025

Jason M. Perdue, age 51 of Defiance, passed away on Sunday, January 5, 2025. He was born on August 24, 1973 to Larry and Beverly (Burkhart) Lindthorst in Bryan, Ohio. Jason was a 1992 graduate of Defiance High School where he played baseball and football. He was very passionate about sports and loved owning his own business, S &...

Jan 4, 2025

Virgil W. Linebrink, Jr., age 82, of Defiance, Ohio, died peacefully and surrounded by his family on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. He was born on May 7, 1942 in Defiance County. On July 10, 1964 he married Pamela Kemper.

Virgil was a 1961 graduate of Ayersville High School where he was a teammate of the 1960 State...

Jan 1, 2025

Daniel Louis Ducatt was born October 2, 1939, in Defiance, Ohio, to Louis and Cleopha (Bernhardt) Ducatt, and died January 1, 2025, aged 85. He attended St. Mary's Catholic School and Defiance High School, where he played varsity basketball and was active in scouting, earning the highest rank of Eagle Scout in 1954. He graduated in 1957. He attended...

Dec 31, 2024

Timothy E. Kretz, age 57 of Defiance, passed away on Tuesday, December 31, 2024. He was born on February 26, 1967 to Walter and Shirley (Reed) Kretz in Defiance, Ohio. Tim was a 1985 graduate of Tinora High School. He was a member of St. Michael Catholic Church and Defiance Eagles #372. He was employed at Johns Manville in...