JOE VERNON JORDAN, age 83, of New Holland, Ohio, passed away peacefully at 1:45 a.m. on Friday, August 28, 2026 at Danbury Columbus Senior Living, ending a long, fluctuating battle with Parkinson's Disease with dementia.
Joe was born in Kenton, Ohio on February 19, 1943 to Lester Lehr Jordan, Jr., and Miriam Anita (Kavanagh) Jordan. His early years gave him ample fodder for the tales he enjoyed recalling to friends and strangers alike. He often told of his dad teaching him to swim in the Ohio River when they lived in Gallipolis Ferry, West Virginia – but if you’ve heard that story, you know that the details he liked to include were a bit questionable. Joe graduated from Jeffersonville High School in 1961 where he was awarded the FFA State Farmer Degree in his senior year. He later attended farming, business, and leadership courses at Ohio State University and Wittenberg.
In his early farming career, he was in partnership with his father as Jordan & Son in Washington CH where they raised cattle and hogs. By the late 1980s, he was farming on his own and was selected as one of the Top Farmers of Ohio for his early adoption of the innovative conservation initiative of no-till farming. At his peak, he was farming over 4000 acres of corn and soybeans in Fayette and surrounding counties until his retirement in 2006. In retirement, he found joy in travelling with his wife and friends. Though he considered himself to be shy, he could easily make friends with anyone through his sly, witty humor; he never missed an opportunity to make a joke.
Joe had an understated appreciation for bluegrass music, PBS, and peanut butter throughout his life, and after retiring he cultivated a new interest – native trees. His curiosity started modestly, planting three buckeye trees in his yard, but it quickly turned into an obsession. He returned to Ohio State after the age of sixty to audit courses in horticulture, launching him into a remarkable passion project. He planted over 120 saplings of unique varieties to fill out the lot around his house. He reforested tens of acres of farmland using seeds he collected from native trees in arboretums, preserves, golf courses, and cemeteries all over the state. He scoured the hills of southern Ohio in search of new state Champion Trees, discovering a new variety of oak along the way. He obtained a license to run a wholesale nursery, which enabled him to sell rare nuts and seedlings in bulk to other growers across the country. Through all of this work, it was evident that he believed that “the true purpose in life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.”
Joe is survived by his wife, former Susan Kay Dundon, whom he married on March 22, 1975, and daughters Christa Jo McKelvey, Jennifer Lynne Jordan (Christopher “Chris” Mayville), and Lesley Scheibelhoffer (Dan Carabotta) and her children Breanna Doherty and Kevin Scheibelhoffer; and sisters Janice L. Vance (Thomas Vance), Janie M. Bentley (Larry Garringer), and Jacquelin K. Jordan (John Reeser). He was Uncle Joe to five nieces and nephews and affectionately “Not-So-Great Uncle Joe” to great nieces and nephews.
In addition to his parents, Joe was preceded in death by his infant sister, Joan and brother-in-law, Olan Bentley.
The funeral service will be held on Tuesday, September 8, 2026 at 4:00 p.m. at the Sugar Creek Baptist Church, 3263 SR 35 NW, Washington CH, OH 43160, with Pastor Mike Henry officiating. Family and friends may visit at the church from 2:00 p.m. until the time of service. Family and friends are welcome to a Celebration of Life meal at the conclusion of the funeral service.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to ODNR Natural Areas and Preserves or Hospice Foundation of America. https://ohiodnr.gov/buy-and-apply/support-odnr/donate-to-odnr/Donate-natural-areas-preserves or to https://hospicefoundation.org/donate
The family would like to extend a special thank you to Danbury Columbus memory care unit and CorsoCare Hospice for the excellent care they provided.
Arrangements have been entrusted to the Summers Funeral Home. Online condolences may be directed to www.summersfuneralhome.com
Full service details and the family guest book are available at Summers Funeral Home.