"You always start off, every day, looking at how the world is and how you'd like it to be. Then it becomes a simple process of closing the gap." In a 2000 interview with the Enquirer on the occasion of his retirement as principal of Finneytown High School, and his wife Shirley's retirement as principal of Ursuline Academy, that was the way that Joe Speaks summed up the philosophy which guided him through 45 years as an educator. It might as well have described the way that he lived his life. It was a life which led him from a childhood in his home town of Springfield, Ohio, to the Athenaeum of Ohio (Mount St. Mary's Catholic Seminary) in Norwood. From there, he was selected with his longtime friend, Father Harry Meyer to journey by boat across the Atlantic to study at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. There he obtained a Licentiate of Sacred Theology and was ordained a Catholic priest in St. Peter's Basilica. He returned to Cincinnati to begin, at Elder High School, what would be a long career in Cincinnati secondary education. Though he remained a faithful Catholic his whole life, he left the priesthood in 1970. Soon after he completed his studies for a degree as a Doctor of Education at the University of Cincinnati and married Shirley Gaede. In 1973, he began his work at Finneytown High School, where he would work for the next 27 years the same year that Shirley became principal at Ursuline Academy, a post she would also hold for the next 27 years. They were the first husband and wife duo ever to each be principals of Cincinnati high schools. Joe was, in the words of Dave Bean, the longtime athletic director of Finneytown High School, "the heart of Finneytown ... he was the approachable, sincere, concerned educational idealist who had the capacity to treat each person with respect. An intellectual person by nature and training he was also a lover of the pulse of the whole world. Joe was a man who lived a creed of honesty and a humble faith in the capacity for goodness within all. He brought respect and dignity to all who labored there." For his work at Finneytown and in the community, Joe (with Shirley) was the first recipient of the Notre Dame Club of Cincinnati's Exemplar Award for service to the community. He was inducted into the Finneytown Hall of Fame in 2006. Though these awards meant a lot to him, none meant as much as the success of students whose lives he had touched. Mr. Bean remarks that "his impact upon the school was only dwarfed by his love and pride for his family" something with which anyone who knew Joe would agree. He and Shirley were married for 40 years from 1971 until his death last week and he had two children, Jeff and Megan, for whom he would sacrifice anything. Jeff is now a professor of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, and Megan is the Executive Director of the Furniture Bank of Atlanta, a non-profit organization that supplies furniture to those who need it the most those moving out of homelessness, fleeing domestic violence, and living with HIV. After their retirements as principals, both Joe and Shirley devoted their energies to Corryville Catholic grade school in Clifton, where they worked side by side for the last 11 years. His colleagues at Corryville had this to say about him: "he strengthened all of us in making choices for our children. His presence has been an absolute gift to us as a man of prayer, as an insightful listener who always had time for the need of the moment, as an inspiration in meeting challenge and conflict in peaceful ways ... He always always found something good in every person, and every situation, and he never hesitated to say it. Dr. Speaks has been a conduit to opportunity for the students in his care." Joe was sometimes asked why, after so many years in education, he spent his retirement years hard at work in a school. This was a question he'd already answered in the 2000 Enquirer article: "The answer is I want this to be a perfect place. I want this to be heaven for the kids." This motivation comes as no surprise to anyone who knew him. In the words of Father Meyer, "He was a perfect gentleman. He never had an unkind word to say about anyone." Joe, age 73, died in his home on January 19. He was the beloved husband of Shirley Gaede Speaks, loving father of Jeff (Elyse) and Megan (Tom) Anderson, and loving grandfather of Amelia & Violet Speaks and Isabelle & Kate Anderson. Brother of Patty Oswalt, Steve Speaks, the late Connie Tuttle, and Tom Speaks. Other loving family members include brother-in-law Jim (Patti) Gaede, niece Tracy (Chris) Niehaus, and nephews Todd (Annie), Scott (Julie), and Chris Gaede. Visitation will be held at Gilligan Funeral Home, 8225 Montgomery Road on Tuesday, January 24, from 4-8 P.M. Mass of Christian Burial will be held Wednesday, January 25 at 10:00 A.M. at Nativity Church. Interment at Gate of Heaven Cemetery. Memorial contributions to Ursuline Academy Scholarship Fund, 5535 Pfeiffer Road, Cincinnati OH, 45242, or Corryville Catholic School, 108 Calhoun Street, Cincinnati OH, 45219.

Service

Tuesday, January 24, 2012 4:00 PM - 8:00 PM Gilligan Funeral Home 3734 Eastern Avenue Cincinnati 45226, United States

Service

Wednesday, January 25, 2012 10:00 AM Nativity Church 5936 Ridge Avenue Cincinnati 45213, United States