Alfred E. Hirzel, a three-term councilman and civic leader in Northwood, passed away at Bay Park Hospital
in Oregon, Ohio on January 23, 2014 after a long illness. He was 90.
Mr. Hirzel served on the Northwood City Council from 1970 to1982. Voters first elected him to council in
1970 when Northwood was still a village. Mr. Hirzel has served the community during its evolution from
Ross Township to the Village of Northwood to the City of Northwood.
From 1956 to 1958, he served as a volunteer firefighter for Ross Township Fire Department #1 which is now
Northwood Fire Department #1.
In the 1960s, he served on the Citizens Advisory Committee for the development of Penta County Vocational
School, now Penta Career Center. As an elected member of the Northwood City Charter Commission in 1980,
he played a role in shaping the City of Northwood.
A World War II veteran, Mr. Hirzel was drafted as a 19-year-old in 1943 and served in the Pacific theater
until December, 1945. Mr. Hirzel, who attained the rank of staff sergeant, was assigned to Headquarters
& Headquarters Battery, 1st Field Artillery Battalion, 6th Infantry Division. He was stationed
in Oahu, Hawaii; Milne Bay, Maffin Bay and Sansapor, New Guinea; and Luzon, Philippines. After World War
II ended, he was part of the force that occupied South Korea. Throughout his service in the Pacific, he
received the newspaper daily through U.S. Army mail and was an avid consumer of news.
Mr. Hirzel received the Asiatic Pacific Theater Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Victory Medal, Philippines
Liberation Medal, 3 Battle Stars, and an Arrowhead for an Assault Landing in Luzon, Philippines on
January 9, 1945.
In 2006, Northwood VFW Post #2984 named Mr. Hirzel Northwood Veterans Appreciation Day Hometown Hero and
held a parade in his honor. He was a founding member of Northwood VFW post #2984, which was established
in 1966. He was a both a charter member and lifetime member of the post.
Mr. Hirzel worked for the family business, Alfred Hirzel & Sons Greenhouses, and he later had a
farming partnership with his brother, Robert Hirzel. He also worked for Goodyear Tire & Rubber
Company and retired from Libbey-Owens-Ford in 1985.
He is a 1942 graduate of Olney High School.
Alfred E. Hirzel was born in Toledo on October 14, 1923, to Alfred A. and Bertha (Vogelsanger) Hirzel.
He is survived by sons, Alfred L. Hirzel and Walter J. Hirzel Sr.; grandchildren, Walter J. Hirzel Jr.
(Rebecca Egan) and Megan L. Witmer (Luke); great-grandchildren, Sophia Hirzel and Aria Hirzel; daughter,
Kathy R. Hirzel and son-in-law, Evan M. Rosen of San Francisco; brother, Ernest Hirzel and sisters, Ruth
Brown and Betty Stotz.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 45 years, Eleanor T (Hotchkiss). Hirzel; parents, Alfred A. and
Bertha (Vogelsanger) Hirzel; brothers, Donald, Hugh and Robert Hirzel; and sisters, Madelyn Cimpritz and
Thelma Hoehener.
Family and friends may visit at the Eggleston-Meinert-Pavley Funeral Home, Oregon Chapel, 440 S. Coy
Road, Oregon, OH, on Thursday, January 30 from 4 to 7 p.m. and Friday, January 31 from 2 to 8 p.m.
Funeral services will be held on Saturday, February 1 at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 106 W. Plumer Street,
Toledo. The family will receive visitors at 10 a.m. with services following at 11 a.m.
Interment will follow at Lake Township Cemetery.
Contributions in Mr. Hirzel’s memory can be made to Bethlehem Lutheran Church.
www.eggleston-meinert.com
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