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.