Carl Toft Obituary

Carl Frank "Butch" Toft

Jul 4, 1932 - Sep 14, 2024

Huron

Carl Frank "Butch" Toft Jr., husband of Barbara Ann Mills Toft of Huron, passed away peacefully Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, at The Meadows at Osborn Park nursing facility after a long illness.

Carl made every moment count in his 92 years of life, always making his family and friends a priority. You can be certain that whenever you ran into Butch, he had a smile on his face, a twinkle in his blue eyes, and his pipe in hand.

Carl Frank Toft Jr. was born the evening of July 4, 1932, to Carl Frank Toft Sr. and Martha Vorbau Toft in their home, The Toft Dairy Farm, on Hayes Avenue, Sandusky. As a young boy and teenager, he worked on the dairy farm with his grandfather, Chris Toft, and father, Carl Toft, until his dad's early death in 1958. The summer before his senior year at Sandusky High School, he met the love of his life, Barbara Mills, who became his wife Jan. 2, 1954. They celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary this past January.

In 1959 after the dairy farm was sold, Butch went to work for Barb's Uncle Charlie Nickels, who owned and operated one of the largest vegetable farms at that time on Scheid Road in Huron. Butch plowed and sprayed the fields and helped to load and unload the trucks with vegetables sent all over the United States. When Uncle Charlie retired, he went to work for Dupont as a Boiler Operator. After this operation closed down in our area, Butch went to work for Erie County Water Department in water maintenance until he retired from there in 1998.

Butch spent 30 years on Erie County Fair Board and loved attending the fair with his family. He also spent 20 years as a 4-H advisor for a boy's club and encouraged his children and grandchildren to get involved in 4-H too. He was an avid sports fan and huge supporter of all the Cleveland sports teams. He especially loved his Tribe and rarely missed watching a game. In his time at The Meadows, Butch enjoyed sharing his love of the Guardians and Browns with his special friend and roommate, Phil. He loved spending weekends and evenings with family and friends enjoying meals and playing cards and was quick with the jokes to keep everyone laughing. He enjoyed spending time on his one-acre garden, which he maintained with his wife and children, and later grandchildren and great-grands. It was rewarding to Butch to be able to provide the garden for his wife to preserve for winter and share extras with relatives, friends, neighbors, and even strangers (not that anyone was a stranger to Butch). It made him so proud to pass on his thriving green thumb to all of his children. In his later years as his garden dwindled, his children re-paid the gesture with produce from their own harvests. Most importantly, he cherished his family. He adored spending as much time as he could with his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren and moved mountains to attend as many sporting events, band, extra-curricular activities, graduations, weddings, and birthdays for them over the years.

After he retired, he and Barb wintered in Florida with their good friend, Relda Niederhofer, until 2017 when Butch's health deteriorated. Even in Florida, Butch would maintain a garden and spend time at the Clubhouse playing cards and shuffleboard and going for a daily dip in the pool. He loved traveling with his wife and family and visited their children in various locations as often as they could. They traveled to 14 states and Canada, a 10,000 mile trip for their 50th wedding anniversary with Rich and Lynne Mills, Barb's brother and wife. This was a wonderful trip that he mentioned often. Butch was a family man to his core. He will be sorely missed.

He is survived by his wife, Barbara; son, Dr. Mark (Donna) Toft of Palm Coast, Florida; son-in-law, Guy (Bernice) Steinmetz of Kingsport, Tennessee; daughters, Theresa (John Thompson) of Columbus, Lisa (James) Long of Vero Beach, Florida, and Becky (Dave) Halliwell of Norwalk; 14 grandchildren, Errin (Jordan) Anderson, Jacquie (Ryan) Hughes, Christopher (Aubrey) Toft, Marcus (Amy) Toft, Joshua Toft, Molly Toft, Kristin (William) Frogge, Matthew (Ashlea) Steinmetz, Timothy (Jeremy Fraser) Tighe, Michael (Brittany) Tighe, Nicholas Long, Andrew (Megan) Long, Katie (Ben) Fries, and Melanie (Justin) Reedy; 27 great-grandchildren, Caleb, Tobin, Micaiah, Cyrus, Tahlia, Mara, Phineas, Gideon, Cana, and Jonah Hughes, Damian, Simon, and Benjamin Toft, Avonlea and Alera Steinmetz, Madeline Frogge, Sophia Grace Long, Jocelyn, Felicity, and Lilian Shipley, Avery, Alivia, Addison, and Cooper McFarland, Caleb Reedy, and Mia and Natalie Fries; and sister, Marlene Poock.

Butch was preceded in death by his grandparents, Frank and Mary Vorbau and Chris and Matilda Kaufman Toft; parents, Carl and Martha Toft; sister, Marjorie Hermes; daughter, Kathleen Steinmetz; and infant son, Timothy Carl Toft.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Activity Department at The Meadows at Osborne Park, 3916 E. Perkins Ave., Huron, Erie County Fair Board in Sandusky, or St. Peter Catholic Church in Huron.

Visitation will be 9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, until the time of Mass at 10:30 a.m. at St. Peter Catholic Church. Burial will be at Scott Union Cemetery, Huron.

Foster Funeral Home & Crematory, Huron, is assisting the family.

Online condolences may be shared at www.fosterfh.com.