Joseph John Fodor, Lieutenant Colonel (Retired U.S. Army), age 78, of Upper Arlington, passed away Thursday, June 23, 2022. He was born on May 15, 1944, in Columbus to the late Joseph L. and Elza (Ocsay) Fodor. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his sisters Elza Jo Blanchard and Margo Gregg. Joe was a devoted family man and a loyal patriot, who will be greatly missed by his sons, Joseph (Stephanie) and Jeremy (Glenese); his grandchildren, Ashley, Taylor and Joseph; his sister, Nancy Sloan; numerous nieces and nephews and many dear friends. He was a lifelong Golden Bear, graduating from Upper Arlington High School in 1963. He attended The Ohio State University and later graduated from Ohio Dominican College in 1969 with a degree in History while concurrently attending U.S. Army ROTC at OSU, where he received his commission as a Second Lieutenant. After graduation he attended Capitol University Law School from 1969-1970 and then went on active duty in 1971. After completing officer basic training at Ft. Belvoir, VA, he was assigned to Ft. Leonard Wood, MO where he served three years as a training officer in an Engineer Training Battalion.
He returned home with his family to Upper Arlington in 1974 and was employed at the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio as a financial accounting analyst over the next eight years, while furthering his education working on an MBA at OSU and serving his country in the Army Reserves (364th Engineer Group) and as a Facilities Engineer with the 83rd ARCOM. He returned to active military duty in 1983 and served with distinction as a Major in various Army Reserve commands as a Budget Officer with the 103rd COSCOM, Ft. Des Moines IA; 63rd ARCOM, Los Alamitos Naval Air Station, CA and 310th TACOM, Ft. Belvoir, VA. He continued further graduate studies at Webster University in El Segundo, CA and Methodist University in Fayetteville, NC.
In 1994 he was promoted to his current rank and stationed at Ft. Bragg, NC as U.S. Deputy Comptroller with the U.S. Army Special Operations Command and as Comptroller for U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command. He was deployed to Sarajevo, Bosnia in 1995 and in 1996, where he served as a financial analyst with U.S. Army Civil Affairs, PSYOPS, and Special Forces units. He returned to Ft. Bragg and proudly served his remaining four years as Comptroller and Facilities Engineer with U.S. Army Special Operations Command until his retirement in 1999. As a civilian he served briefly at Ft. Bragg as a financial analyst with L3 Communications and part-time work thereafter.
Following his retirement, he returned home to Upper Arlington in 2014, where for the remainder of his life he served his community in various charitable and service organizations. These included over 40 years as a fellow Mason with the Community Lodge No. 684 (and formerly rose to Junior Warden) and with the Central Ohio Aladdin Shrine, where he served as their commandant and in other offices in the Legion of Honor. He also served as past president of the Downtown Columbus (Chapter #473) of High Twelve, International and as a volunteer and benefactor to the Wolcott Foundation.
But to his children he will best be remembered as a devoted, beloved father participating with them in Indian Guides (Gentle Bull) and as a Den Father in their Cub Scouting activities. Funeral Service will be held at 12 PM on Wednesday, June 29, 2022 at SCHOEDINGER NORTHWEST, 1740 Zollinger Road, Upper Arlington, Ohio 43221, where reception will follow from 1-3 PM.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.17