"Hank" Henry Joseph Metcalf, 82, died March 11, 2022. Born in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania to Henry Edmund Metcalf and Mary Julia Metcalf née Conners, Hank was raised by his mother who called him "Skip," and attended Monsignor Bonnor High School in Drexel Hill where he played intramural sports, worked on the school newspaper, and earned money digging graves at night at a nearby cemetery. He majored in Classical Languages at Villanova University before marrying Elizabeth "Betty Lou" Louise Bowers and beginning a family while working as a butcher at Penn Fruit. Hank took a job at the state Department of Labor before transitioning to corporate HR.
In 1969 the family of six moved from Philadelphia to a 100-acre farm in Richfield, Ohio. Hank relished being a weekend farmer, raising chickens, ducks, geese, goats, rabbits, and other random creatures while growing vegetables and attempting his own jellies, syrup and wine. Hank and Betty Lou divorced after 25 years, and Hank married Sandra "Sandy" Janosek and they moved to Twinsburg, Ohio. In 2005 he retired to spend time with Sandy and to dote over her grandchildren. Hank and Sandy divorced after 25 years, and Hank moved to Cuyahoga Falls, OH.
Hank enjoyed a long career in human resources and labor relations at companies that included American Safety Corp, Myers Industries, MacAllied Tools, Barefoot Corporation, and Lear Corporation, and he cherished the many friendships he made at those places and at Parents Without Partners. He loved country and banjo music, his rose bushes, the works of Clive Cussler, and reading about the people and histories of countries he someday wanted to visit.
He is survived by his children Lew (Julianne), Monica, David (Teresa) and Merideth Metcalf, and his grandsons Joseph and David Taggart, Christopher Harboldt and Aiden Wohleber and granddaughter Taylor Wohleber.
Friends of the family are welcome to attend A Celebration of Life to be held on Tuesday, March 15th between 4 - 6 PM at the Courtyard Hotel, 41 Furnace Street, Akron, Ohio 44308. In lieu of flowers a donation may be made in Hank's name to the Akron Zoo Conservation Fund at www.akronzoo.org.