Charles Joseph Goetz Jr.

Charles Joseph Goetz Jr.

July 17, 1935 - June 11, 2026

Visitation: Family and friends will be received on Sunday, July 12, 2026, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at DEVLIN FUNERAL HOME, 806 Perry Highway, Pittsburgh.

Service: A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Saint Boniface Church, 2208 East Street, Pittsburgh, on Monday, July 13, 2026, at 10:00 a.m.

With deep love and gratitude for a life well lived, we announce the passing of Charles Joseph Goetz Jr., devoted son, brother, husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, veteran, and friend, who passed away peacefully on June 11, 2026, at the age of 90.

Born on July 17, 1935, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Charles was the beloved son of Charles Joseph Goetz Sr. and Bertha Marie (Walters) Goetz and the cherished brother of Audrey Rauch.

He was also a proud son of the city he loved. He attended Carnegie Mellon University, where he earned a degree in Industrial Management and played varsity basketball, before later receiving his law degree from Duquesne University.

Charles answered his country’s call by serving in the United States Army Reserve. His commitment to service continued throughout his professional life. After working as an industrial engineer in the steel industry, he spent decades with the Allegheny County Bureau of Air Pollution Control, where he helped protect the health and well-being of the region he loved. Through both his legal and administrative work, he played an important role in environmental enforcement and public service throughout Western Pennsylvania.

At a high school dance, Charley spotted a beautiful young woman named Dorothy Heim and was smitten. After seven long years of courtship, they married on May 7, 1960, beginning a partnership that would span nearly sixty-four years and become the foundation of a family they both cherished.

Together they raised four children: Karen, Allen, Charley, and Jason, and built a life filled with faith, family, and tradition.
Charles loved the rhythms that gave shape to a good life: Sunday Mass followed by brunch and a Bloody Mary, Final Four Soup Night, college football weekends with friends, nightly ice cream cones on family beach vacations, long drives through the countryside, and afternoons spent enjoying the beauty of North Park. He took great pride in his flower gardens and found joy in gathering the people he loved around him.

A lifelong Pittsburgh sports fan, Charles remained fiercely loyal to the Steelers, Pirates, and Penguins. A graduate and outstanding basketball player at North Catholic High School, he held a lifelong affection for the school and its legacy. He was later a familiar face at North Catholic girlsbasketball games and enthusiastically adopted the Pittsburgh-area teams his grandchildren played for as his own. Whether it was a championship game or a regular-season matchup, he was always ready to cheer from the stands.

Though often serious and reserved, those who knew Charles best understood the depth of his love. It was expressed not through grand speeches, but through consistency, dependability, and quiet devotion. He showed up. He paid attention. He cared deeply.

Charles was part of a generation that rarely asked for recognition. He believed in doing what needed to be done, keeping his word, working hard, caring for his family, and showing up.

He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Dorothy Ann (Heim) Goetz, who passed away in 2024. Though their family mourns the loss of them both, there is comfort in imagining Dot and Charley together again, reunited after more than two years apart.

He is survived by his children, Karen (Sam), Allen (Esther), Charley (Pam), and Jason (Bridget); his grandchildren, Sarah (Cody), Jared (Anna), Josh, Rachel, Liam (Jenny), Kathryn, Gilliann, Maggie, Becca, Noah, Nate, and Jake; his great-grandchildren, Broden, Bridget, Jovie, Emmy and Addy; his sister, Audrey Rauch; and many extended family members and dear friends.

Charles leaves behind a family who loved him dearly and who will carry forward the traditions, values, faith, and steadfast love he modeled throughout his life, telling stories around family tables for generations to come.

Family and friends will be received on Sunday, July 12, 2026, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at DEVLIN FUNERAL HOME, 806 Perry Highway, Pittsburgh. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Saint Boniface Church, 2208 East Street, Pittsburgh, on Monday, July 13, 2026, at 10:00 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the North Catholic Class of 1953 Scholarship Fund, supporting future generations of students at the school that remained so important to Charley throughout his life. Checks should be made payable to the North Catholic Class of 1953 Scholarship Fund and mailed to the attention of Amber Morrison, North Catholic High School, 1617 Route 228, Cranberry Township, PA 16066.

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