Remembering Dad

Joseph J. Baldwin III

May 30, 1943 - January 10, 2021

A Note from Jay

Originally posted on Facebook on January 11, 2021
How do you aptly honor the hands that held you, the heart that loved you, the man who led you, who always forgave you, knew you, and not just walked beside you - but taught you to walk?

How do you thank the one who caught you when you fell, dried your tears, provided for and protected you?

How can we live without you? I do not know. I know I love this man ... I know I miss this man, and I know I am proud to have been given the chance to call him father, know him as a friend, and see from him a powerful love that uniquely to me reveals the truth of who God is.

This man IS a passionate believer in the Lord Jesus and before he entered heaven, was a great husband to my mother and an incredible father.

He is not gone. He is not lost. We know exactly where he is. He’s simply hidden from us FOR NOW in the presence of the Lord of glory.

And when the Lord Jesus returns, he will rise again - and we await that day! ... More so now than I ever imaged I could, I long for that day.

I love you so incredibly much, dad. I will miss you always, until I can hug you again.

This past Sunday morning, my most excellent father unexpectedly entered the eternal presence of his Savior, where he feels no pain, regret, or fear.

Thank you for praying for me and my family. We are heartbroken, but rest in the knowledge that he is at perfect peace, overwhelmed with the countenance of the Lord who saved us.

Dad's Obituary

Graveside Funeral Services, celebrating the life of Joseph John Baldwin III, 77, of Pataskala, will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, January 14, 2021 at the Glen Rest Memorial Estates, Reynoldsburg; where he will be buried with full military honors.

Joseph died suddenly Sunday, January 10, 2021 at his home. He was born in Pittsburgh, PA. on May 30, 1943, the son of the late Joseph John and Cecelia Helen (Kallay) Baldwin Jr. He never forgot his Pittsburgh roots. He served honorably in the US Navy, and retired after a successful career both as an entrepreneur and a banking and finance expert. While not a member of any one Church, he loved Jesus, was very spiritual; and supported the ministries of The World Harvest Church.

Joseph coached baseball in the SWL youth league, rooted for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Steelers and was a member of the American Legion at Pickerington.

He is survived by his loving family: his wife Debora, whom he married on July 6, 1974, his children: Joseph John “Jay” Baldwin IV and his wife Alexandra; Amy Jo Clifford and her husband Kevin; Danielle “Dee” Main and her husband Robert “Bob”. He looked forward to welcoming “Baby Baldwin” soon to be born, to join the other grandchildren Scott Dement II, Paige Smallridge, Cooper and Piper Clifford, Dalton Main, Brenna (Daniel) Pastorius and Ray Belback; great grandson Blake Pastorius; along with a cousin John R. Baldwin, whom Joseph considered a brother.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his sister Patsy and a son-in-law Scott Dement.

The family prefers that memorials be directed to The World Harvest Church, P.O. Box 100, Columbus, Ohio 43216.

HOSKINSON Funeral and Cremation Service, Kirkersville, is honored to care for Joseph and his family.wwwhoskinsonfuneral.com

Dad's Eulogy

Written by Senior Elder Bill Canfield, World Harvest Church

JOSEPH JOHN BALDWIN III FUNERAL SERVICE
THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2021 10:00 AM
HOSKINSON FUNERAL HOME
285 E. MAIN STREET, KIRKERSVILLE, OH

PSALM 91:1-2; 14-16
“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust….Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.”

JOHN 14:1-4
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.”

One of the best ways to gain insight into someone’s life is to look into when and where they were born and grew up. Joseph was born in 1943, which puts him at the tail end of a generation that preceded the Baby Boomers by just a few years. His generation was known as the Silent Generation. Of course, we realize that these are generalizations made by whoever comes up with these names. And you realize that silent was not a characteristic that could ever apply to Joseph. He liked to engage people in conversation, and the more he was able to talk to you, the better he liked the interaction. He was not the shy and retiring type. But he was part of a generation that was distinguished by their willingness to put their heads down and give maximum effort to whatever they were doing, and he was no exception.

He was born in the middle of a world and a country at war. Pittsburgh in 1943 was full of steel mills that were operating 24 hours a day to provide steel for the war effort. It was called the arsenal of democracy. He lived in a neighborhood called Munhall in southeastern Pittsburgh, where many of the residents were of Hungarian ancestry, as his family was.

I am not from Pittsburgh, but I am from eastern Ohio, and I am not unfamiliar with the city. If you know anything about the Pittsburgh area, you are aware that there are certain distinctions about Pittsburghers. One is that they are proud of their city—446 bridges, three more than Venice, Italy—the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers joining to form the Ohio, the hills, the Golden Triangle, a spectacular renaissance after the collapse of the traditional steel industry, and a distinctive way of talking that is a curious blend of who knows what kind of dialects that have led to some expressions that identify anyone who is actually from there. A rubber band is a gum band. Bologna is jumbo. There is a kind of cake with a confection filling called a gob. And referring to a group of people collectively is not you, or you all, but youse or yinz. And Joseph Baldwin was proud to call himself a Pittsburgher, and maintained his loyalty to his hometown regardless of where life took him, whether as a sailor in the U.S. Navy, or as a lender or as an entrepreneur.

And of course, no discussion of Pittsburgh would be complete without a mention of the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pittsburgh fans tend to maintain their fervency for their home teams regardless of where they live, and Joseph was no exception. He would have been a teenager when Pittsburgh was energized by the famous walk-off ninth inning home run by second baseman Bill Mazeroski that won the seventh and deciding game of the 1960 World Series for the Pirates over the New York Yankees. Joseph no doubt remembered the Immaculate Reception, one of the most famous plays in football, two days before Christmas, 1972, when the Steelers beat the Oakland Raiders because of an impossible deflected pass with only five seconds to go in the game that led to a Pittsburgh touchdown.

Not only was Joseph a Pittsburgh fan, he was also a patriot. He served in the United States Navy on the aircraft carrier USS Essex, the lead ship in an entire class of carriers that served honorably through the second half of WWII, Korea, Vietnam and beyond. Incidentally, Neil Armstrong also served as a pilot on an air crew on the Essex for a tour of duty during the Korean War.

Joseph’s life’s work was in the field of finance, lending and investment. He worked for Household Finance Corporation, then for U. S. Property and Appraisal. He was intrigued by the challenges of starting and developing businesses, and so he did that over and over again here in central Ohio, which is where he made his home for the past 35 years.

He especially loved the game of baseball, and coached Little League teams for many years in the Southwest Licking youth league. He was universally respected as a fair, insightful and conscientious coach.

Even though Joseph’s family had a Catholic background, there was one more inescapable influence in Pittsburgh during the time he was growing up. It was a tall, slender lady dressed in white who would stride across the platform with one hand upraised, saying, “I believe in miracles!” Her name was Kathryn Kuhlman, and although many people did not understand what motivated her, there was no denying that she did indeed believe in miracles. And Joseph and his family were affected by her emphasis on faith in Jesus Christ and her belief that God still does miracles today.

Hours of time would not suffice to tell of the impact and influence Joseph’s life has had on you and those around you. But let me tell you what influenced him more profoundly than anything else, and it was this—many, many years ago, he put his faith and trust in Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord.

Don’t let the fact that he didn’t often travel to a physical church building bother you. Joseph read the Bible. But he didn’t just read it; he studied it, he took notes about it; he asked questions about the things he saw in it; he did his best to live by it; he believed it. And that is more than I can say about some people who never miss a church service.

He loved to talk to people—even after his retirement, he found ways to continue to be involved in other people’s lives. And if he talked to you long enough, sooner or later he would maneuver the conversation so that he would find out about your spiritual condition and tell you about a Friend like no other.

He loved sports, that’s true. He loved his family, make no mistake about it. But the one love that overshadowed all others was that he loved God with all his heart. And because he did, we can have confidence on this most difficult of days, because we know he believed the promise that Jesus offers—the promise of eternal life.

One of the Scripture verses I read earlier said that Jesus was going to prepare a place for us. Here is a description of the place He is preparing, from someone who was an eyewitness of it, named John:

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.”

Joseph Baldwin III has overcome, and has become an heir of all things, because of his faith in Jesus as Savior. You can see him the next time, and he won’t look as he did the last time. But there is only one way to get to where he is now, and that is by doing what he did. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no man comes to the Father but by Me.” Joseph believed this. You can believe it, too.

You say, “But I’m a good person.” I believe you are, but just being a good person won’t get you into heaven. You say, “But I do more good than bad.” I hope you do, but no amount of good works can tip the scales of eternal justice in your favor. You say, “I go to church.” Lots of folks know how to get to church, but don’t know how to get to heaven.

Here’s how I’ve heard it explained:

• Heaven is a free gift. It can’t be earned or deserved.
• Man is a sinner and cannot help himself.
• God is merciful, and doesn’t want to punish us, but He is just, and cannot overlook sin.
• He sent Jesus Christ, who is both God and man, to die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins and purchase our eternal life.
• That eternal life must be received by faith. Faith is not head knowledge, nor is it temporary faith. True saving faith is trusting Christ alone for eternal life.

Joseph Baldwin believed this. You can believe it, too.



Receive Eternal Life. Follow Jesus.