JoAnn Scheuer McKelvey

JoAnn (Scheuer) McKelvey passed away peacefully on February 10, 2020. She was 91 years old. JoAnn grew up in Metamora, OH and lived her entire adult life in Toledo. She was a devoted wife to Robert “Bob” McKelvey, and a loving and dedicated mother to their six children. Although she was an exceptionally talented musician who gave her life to church music, JoAnn will be remembered for her gift of making everyone she met feel special and for being a friend to all.

A 1946 Central Catholic High School graduate, she studied organ and voice at the College of St. Francis in Joliet, IL. Following college graduation, JoAnn pursued a degree in Organ Performance at the University of Michigan, worked as an organist, and taught elementary school for a year. She and Bob married in 1952 and although her life was filled with family responsibilities, she remained involved in church music for many years at Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral and St Charles Borromeo Church (Toledo).

When her family was grown, JoAnn worked as the Music Director/Organist at St. Charles Borromeo Church and then Most Blessed Sacrament Church. She was active in the Toledo chapters of the American Guild of Organists and the National Association of Pastoral Musicians, as well as the Kappa Gamma Pi honor society. After retirement, she enjoyed spending time in Florida, traveled to Europe on several choir trips, sang in the Diocesan choir, played the organ for her friends when a substitute was needed, and sang in the choir at Blessed Sacrament. She was thrilled to have the opportunity to play the organ at the Vatican during a trip to Italy. In 2004, JoAnn was inducted into the Central Catholic High School Music Hall of Fame.

JoAnn is survived by three sons, Michael (Nancy) and Marty (Linda) of Sylvania, Matt (Kristin) of Prescott, AZ; two daughters, Molly (Steve) LeBlanc of Toledo, Maureen (Michael) Murral of Brunswick, OH; son-in-law, Gary Smith of Huntington Station, NY; 21 grandchildren, 11 grandchildren “in-laws”, 19 great-grandchildren; and countless special friends. She was preceded in death by her husband, Robert; parents, Edward and Opal Scheuer; sisters, Ahlene Wernet and Sr. Theresia Scheuer; and daughter, Margaret “Meg” Smith. It was JoAnn’s wish to donate her body to UTMC.

A Memorial Mass honoring JoAnn McKelvey’s life will be celebrated at Most Blessed Sacrament Church, 2240 Castlewood Dr., Toledo OH, on Saturday, February 22 at 11:00 AM. Friends will be received from 9:00-11:00 AM at the church, and following the service at a luncheon in The Donnelly Neighborhood Center. The family requests that tributes in her honor be made to Most Blessed Sacrament Church.