Joseph “Joe” Zifer Jr., age 90, a life-long resident of Dover, passed away Monday, March 6, 2023, in Aultman Hospital, Canton, where he was taken following a sudden illness.
Born March 2, 1933, he was a son of the late Joseph Sr. and Mary Tornabene Zifer. Joe graduated from Dover High School in 1951, and, soon afterward, entered the United States Army serving honorably during the Korean War. Joe married the former Beverly Hawthorne, who survives, on October 2, 1953 – the couple would have celebrated 70 years of marriage later this year. He was employed by the Reeves Steel Company in Dover, and served as president of United Steelworkers Union Local 2737, as well as being a union staffman. Joe and his brother Dick formerly owned and operated the family business, Mary Zifer’s Pizza in Dover and New Philadelphia.
Joe was a member of St. Joseph Church in Dover, as well as the former Dover Post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. In his spare time, he enjoyed playing golf and cards – particularly poker, gin and jass.
He will be dearly missed by his wife, Beverly; his children, Joe (Beth) and Linda Zifer, both of Dover, Frank (Lisa) Zifer of Stow, John Zifer of Tippecanoe, Patti Zifer, also of Dover, and Tim (David Wyatt) Zifer of Evansville, Indiana; his grandchildren, Mollie, Betsy, Frank, Joe, Mary Beth, Maxi, Rita and Annie; his great-grandchildren, Joe, Jackson, Cora and Frances; his sisters, Mary Jane Newhauser and Rita Hutras; and his many nieces and nephews.
Besides his parents, Joe was preceded in death by his sisters, Rosalia Zifer and Connie Reese, and his brothers, Jim and Dick Zifer.
Family and friends are invited to call at the Toland-Herzig Funeral Home & Crematory in Dover on Thursday, March 9, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. A private family service will be held directly afterward in St. Joseph Calvary Cemetery; Fr. Jimmy Hatfield will officiate. To sign an online guestbook and share a fond memory of Joe, please visit the Obituaries link on the funeral home’s website.
The family requests that, instead of flowers, contributions in Joe’s memory be made to the Dover Tornado Club, P.O. Box 81, Dover, Ohio 44622, or the American Heart Association, 1375 East Ninth St., No. 600, Cleveland, Ohio 44114.
Toland-Herzig Funeral Homes & Crematory
803 North Wooster Avenue
Dover, Ohio 44622
330-343-6132
www.tolandherzig.com