John E. Polcyn, a retired Toledo Engineering Co. vice president who was a devout Catholic, died Saturday at his Toledo home. He was 85.

He had Parkinson's disease for about nine years, his daughter, Pat Rose, said.

Mr. Polcyn retired in the early 1990s after about 20 years at the company, where he had risen in the ranks from an electrical engineer, the position to which he was hired in the early 1970s, she said. He previously was an electrical engineer at the former Toledo Scale Co.

“He helped grow that company [Toledo Engineering],” Mrs. Rose said. “He traveled a lot for business. He's been to places all over the world, such as Japan, India, Venezuela, everywhere. But when asked what his favorite place was, he would always say, ‘home.’ He was my superhero.

“He was born after the Great Depression started and he was the only child,” she went on to say. “So when he got old enough to work, he held three jobs to help support his mom and dad. For him, family always came first and he was generous to a fault.”

Mr. Polcyn was also a longtime member of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Point Place, where he volunteered as an usher, lector, and lay eucharistic minister.

“He was very, very much devoted to his faith,” his daughter said. “[And] he felt it was very important to give back to the church, which had helped our family through hard times and helped celebrate the good times.”

Mr. Polcyn was born March 28, 1933, in Toledo to Edward and Agnes Polcyn.

In 1950, he graduated from Macomber High School and went to the University of Detroit, from which he obtained a bachelor degree in electrical engineering in 1955.

Once graduated, he got a job as an electrical engineer with Toledo Scale. He worked there until he was hired by Toledo Engineering about 1972, his daughter said.

In 1956, Mr. Polcyn married Shirley Sullivan. They raised two children. She died in 2009.

In his free time, Mr. Polcyn enjoyed golfing, fishing Lake Erie, and traveling domestically and abroad.

Surviving are his son, Michael Polcyn; daughter, Patricia Rose; three grandchildren; and two great-granddaughters.

Visitation will be at 10 a.m. Saturday in St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, 5153 Summit St., where funeral services will follow at 11 a.m.

Arrangements are by Sujkowski Funeral Home Northpointe.

The family suggests tributes to the Caregiver Fund at Christian Home Care, Toledo.

Contact Mike Sigov at sigov@theblade.com, 419-724-6089, or on Twitter @mikesigovblade.

First Published July 24, 2018, 4:00 a.m.