Joseph J. Loch

EXETER - Joseph J. Loch passed away at RiverWoods at Exeter on Nov. 30, 2015, at the age of 98 years with the comfort and support of his family.

Joe was born in Bristol, Conn., on Sept. 21, 1917, to Teofil and Antonina (Wodziak) Loch. The family moved to Exeter shortly thereafter and he spent nearly his entire life there. He graduated from Exeter High School with the Class of 1936.

Joe entered the U.S. Army in 1941 and was on guard duty at Fort Devens, Mass., when the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor. He was then assigned to serve the next four years as a medic under Gen. George S. Patton. When he returned home at the end of the war, he entered the University of New Hampshire and earned a degree in business administration.

While at UNH, he met the love of his life, Blanche St. Amour. They married and spent the next 62 years together. Joe spent his career working at Western Electric until 1975, then ended his last four working years at Seabrook Nuclear Plant. They spent their retirement years traveling to alumni and Army reunions and attending local senior events. He was also a communicant of St. Michael Church in Exeter.

Joe is survived by his brother Anthony Loch; sisters-in-law Sheila Loch, Elaine Loch and Jane Loch; brother and sister-in-law, George and Barbara St. Amour; special nieces Carole Hogge, Linda Loch, Sandra Rowe and Robin L. Fairfield; three cousins, Frank Loszynski, Clarence Carroll and Mary Stacy; and his special friend, Kenneth Verhelle.

He was predeceased by his parents; his wife, Blanche (St. Amour) Loch, who died in 2009; his brothers John, Francis, Walter, Michael and Philip; his sisters Helen Marshall and Sophia Eddy; and by countless nieces and nephews..

SERVICES: A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated on Friday, Dec. 4, at 10 a.m. at St. Michael Church, 9 Lincoln St., Exeter. Burial with military honors will follow in the Exeter Cemetery.

Brewitt Funeral Home, 14 Pine St., Exeter, is handling the arrangements.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to St. Vincent de Paul local food bank, 53 Lincoln St., Exeter, NH 03833.

For more information, please visit www.brewittfuneralhome.com.