Joseph O. Lane

Mineral Ridge JOSEPH O. LANE, who was born December 3, 1924, a son of Joseph B. and Hallie Cline Lane in Mineral Ridge, Ohio, died Saturday morning June 22, 2002, at his home from congestive heart failure following a five month illness. Mr. Lane was the president and fourth generation owner of Lane Funeral Homes, Inc. with funeral homes in Mineral Ridge, Austintown and Canfield, and received the Ohio Funeral Directors Association 50 year service award in 2002 and received the Pursuit of Excellence Award from the National Funeral Directors Assoc. in 1981. He was also the president of Lane LifeTrans Paramedic Ambulance and the Lane Monument Company. He served on the Board of Directors of the Farmers National Bank of Canfield for 34 years. He was a 1942 graduate of Mineral Ridge High School where he was salutatorian of his class. He received his Bachelors Degree from the College of Wooster in 1949 and his Mortuary Science Degree from the Cleveland College of Mortuary Science in 1950 where he was class president. He was a three sport letterman while in high school and at the College of Wooster, playing basketball, football and baseball. While in the Army following WWII, he played basketball for the 102nd Infantry Division Team and was named All-League Member of the 406th Infantry Football team. Over the years he consistently sponsored sports teams of all ages for football, baseball, softball, track and bowling. He was the Ohio Kiwanis District singles bowling champion in 1968 and 1972. He was inducted into the Mahoning Valley Bowling Hall of Fame in 1988. He was also inducted into the Austintown Girl’s Softball Hall of Fame and Mahoning Valley Bowling Sponsor’s Hall of Fame. In 2002 he received the Curbstone Coach’s Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2000, he made a gift to Weathersfield Township Schools to launch the construction of the Joe Lane Sports Complex which was dedicated in 2001 as an all new 2,500 seat stadium and field. He organized and was the first president of the Mineral Ridge Volunteer Fire Department. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Mineral Ridge for 63 years where he served as Deacon and was a Life Elder. He received the Church’s 1999 Presbyterian Man of the Year Award. He was a highly decorated WWII Army combat veteran receiving a battlefield commission at age 19 in Aptweiler, Germany. He was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and Purple Heart with Cluster while serving with Company K of the 406th Regiment, 102nd Infantry Division. He was discharged as a first Lt. in 1946. He was a member of the National Order of Battlefield Commissions and just recently received a Diploma Award from the French authorities relating to the liberation of France during WWII. He was past Lt. Gov. and President of the Austintown Kiwanis Club where he also served as Ohio district chairman. In 1997 he received the George F. Hixon Award as an outstanding Kiwanian. He was the International Interclub Chairman for 50 years and was recently honored by the City of Orillia, Ontario, Canada for his dedication to continued interaction between the Kiwanis Club of Austintown and the Kiwanis Club of Orillia. He was a member of the Austintown Growth Foundation and the Austintown Historical Society and was inducted into the Austintown Township Hall of Fame in 1983. He was also a member of the Niles Historical Society. He was a member and supporter of the Canfield Harness Horse Association. He was past president of the Tri-county Funeral Directors Association, and a member of the Ohio Funeral Directors Association and the National Funeral Directors Association. He was a 32nd Degree Mason. He was a member of the Aut Mori Grotto, St. Johns Commandery No. 020 Knights Templar, the Order of White Shrine of Jerusalem and the Youngstown Shrine Club. He was a member of the St. David’s Society of Youngstown, Ohio, the Independent Order of Oddfellows and the Knights of Pythias. He was a life member of the VFW Post 4192 in Mineral Ridge. He was also a member of the American Legion. He served as Toastmaster at many functions throughout the Mahoning Valley. He is survived by his wife, Geraldine “Jerry” Lane whom he married August 23, 1947, a son, Joseph D. Lane and daughter-in-law, Andrea Lane, of Canfield, Ohio, grandsons, Ryan, Robert and Patrick Lane, and step-grandson, John Delserone. He is also survived by two sisters, Marguerite Bowden, of Kettering, Ohio, and Charlotte Flickinger of Canfield, Ohio, and several nieces and nephews. Funeral services will held at 11:00 A.M. Thursday, June 27, 2002, at the First Presbyterian Church, Mineral Ridge. Calling hours will be Tuesday, June 25, and Wednesday, June 26, at the Lane Funeral Home, Austintown Chapel. Informal calling hours will be held from 3:00 until 5:00 p.m. each day without family present. Formal calling hours, when the family will be present, will be from 5:00 until 9:00 p.m. each day. His devotion to family and friends and his commitment to the community will be greatly missed. Memorials may take the form of donations to the “First Presbyterian Church”, Mineral Ridge, Ohio, or the “Joe Lane Sports Complex” at the Mineral Ridge High School.