Joseph Peter Doscher

A man of faith, a devout Catholic, Joe Doscher passed away peacefully in his home on January 22, 2021. In the month before his death, Joe celebrated Christmas, his 86th birthday, 45 years of marriage to the love of his life, and 38 years of sobriety while surrounded by the kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids who were the light of his life.

Joe was born in 1934 in the Bronx, New York, just a subway ride from Yankee Stadium. He attended Fordham Preparatory School and Fordham College (B.A. English 1956), where his glee club and public speaking activities, along with his ear for the all the accents found in New York, set the stage for his mid-life amateur acting career.

After college Joe spent three years in the Navy as a Lieutenant (junior grade) aboard the USS Intrepid, enjoying peacetime cruises of the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, and the North Seas. His adventures off and on the ship provided ample fodder for his storytelling, no more so than when he took grandsons to visit the ship (now a museum in New York).

A diehard Yankees fan, after moving to California in the sixties, Joe added the 49ers, the Giants, and Stanford football to his rooting interests. But no professional sports team could capture his heart as did the considerable athletic exploits of his kids and grandkids and great-grandkids, whether in soccer, basketball, baseball, rugby, football or cheer. Grandpa Joe was always on the sideline with an encouraging word.

Joe worked in the restaurant industry for many years, as everything from cook to bartender to salesman for a produce distributor, always enjoying best the hospitality aspect of the business. The highlight of that career was as the owner/cook/singing bartender of the Miramar Beach Inn in Half Moon Bay in the 1970s.

In his 50s, Joe began to put his voice and storytelling ability to work as an actor and singer in various community and regional theaters, in the Bay Area and Sacramento. Favorite roles included the leads in Da and South Pacific, the grandpa in Broadway Bound, and many others. In recent years, his voice, acting and singing abilities were put to use in the family and his church.

Joe is survived by his loving wife, Anne Marie Flaherty; daughters Alanna Dayton of Sacramento, Erika Whipple of Roseville, Doreen Mueller of Villa Hills, KY, and Cathy Pogue of Burlington, KY, and their loving husbands; son Joseph Doscher of Cincinnati, OH and his loving wife; grandchildren Brian (and wife), Brianna, Devin (and husband), Emily, Jacob, Kiley, Claire, Joshua, Joseph (Pogue), Joseph (Whipple), and Jack; and great-grandchildren Jayden, Hannah, Rhyan, Hayden, Joseph (Denney), Jordan and (soon to be born) Josiah.

He will be missed.

Visitation will be held on Monday, February 15, 2021 between 6 and 8 p.m. at Nicoletti, Culjis & Herberger Funeral Home, 5401 Folsom Blvd, Sacramento, CA 95819. A funeral Mass will be on Tuesday, February 16, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. at Sacred Heart Church, 1040 39th Street, Sacramento, CA (attendance will be limited), followed by a graveside service at 11:30 a.m. at East Lawn, 4300 Folsom Blvd., Sacramento, CA.