JOSEPH HUBERT (JOE) BRANDABUR, M.D.

JOSEPH HUBERT (JOE) BRANDABUR, M.D., of Hamilton, OH, died peacefully at his home on February 14, 2021, surrounded by his family. Joe was born July 20, 1937, in Cleveland, Ohio, due to the Great Flood, to John Joseph and Genevieve O’Hara Brandabur. Joe grew up in Huntington, WV, with his three brothers, Edward, John (Jack) and James. Joe had a 4th brother, John, a twin of Edward, that died as a toddler. Joe graduated from Saint Ignatius High School (1955) in Cleveland and Xavier University (1959) in Cincinnati, where he met his wife, Margaret Dewhurst. Joe married Margaret in 1961 while attending medical school at St. Louis University, graduating in 1963. Joe and Margaret returned to Huntington to complete his internship at St. Mary’s Hospital where he also worked as a General Practitioner. Joe completed his residency in Clinical Pathology at the University of Wisconsin and St. John’s Hospital in Madison. He then moved back to Huntington in 1965 to care for his mother, then father after her passing, and continued working as a GP at St. Mary’s Hospital. In 1968, Joe and his family moved to Hamilton, OH, to accept the position of Director of Laboratories for Mercy Hospital Hamilton. While in Hamilton, he trained at Oak Ridge, TN, to obtain his boards in Nuclear Medicine. He also served as Director of Laboratories at McCullough Hyde Hospital in Oxford, OH, for a number of years. While at Mercy, he oversaw the construction of the laboratory at the new Mercy Hospital in Fairfield and finished his career there in 2005. In addition, he was the Chief Deputy with the Butler County Coroner’s Office and was pulled out of retirement to serve a brief stint as Coroner, fulfilling his 44 years of duty with the Coroner’s Office. Joe was an Eagle Scout and served in the U.S. Army (150th Cavalry) as a Surgeon in the Medical Corps and separated in 1972 with the rank of Major. He served on numerous boards in the community, was past presidents of the Hamilton Rotary, the Hamilton-Fairfield Academy of Medicine, the Cincinnati Society of Pathologists, and Chairman of the Butler County Medical Society and of the College of Pathology Commission on Laboratory Accreditation for Southern Ohio. He also inspected hospital laboratories around the world for the Department of Defense. He was an active board member at National Research Laboratories until his passing. Throughout his life, Joe was an avid outdoorsman, truly lived the Jesuit mission of Seeking God in All Things and was a Man for Others. He loved hunting, fishing and camping with his family across the country. Joe enjoyed spending time with family, friends and countless hunting dogs at his cabin in Adams County, Ohio. His love of history included military history. He drove his 1943 Ford GPW military jeep in parades each year and displayed it at the Cincinnati Museum. Of all his accomplishments, Joe was most proud of his family. He celebrated his Irish, Slovak and Appalachian heritage, and brought many together to share in the joy that it is to be a friend of a Brandabur. Joe is survived by his wife, Margaret; his four children, Michael (Helen), Kathleen (Robert), Joseph (Tiffany), Timothy (Shawna); and adored his eleven grandchildren, Patrick Macke and Sarah Freeman (nee Macke), Meghan, Sean, Jack, Tate, Ainsley, Darcy, Cole, Caden and Scarlet Brandabur. “I will see you on the other side of life.” God Bless, Joe. An Irish Wake in his honor will be held later in the year by invitation. The family requests donations kindly be made in Joe’s name to: St. Peter in Chains Church, Hamilton, Ohio, stpeterinchains.weshareonline.org, Badin High School, Hamilton, Ohio, https://badinhs.org/memorialdonation.html, St. Ignatius High School, Cleveland, Ohio, ignatius.edu/give. Online condolences are available at www.weigelfuneralhome.com.