JOLIET – Joseph Baltz’s son said it was “overwhelming” to meet the different kinds of people who came to his father’s memorial service last week.

Baltz, 71, a photography teacher at Joliet Central High School until he retired in 2016, died Nov. 4. His memorial service was Thursday.

“There were students and colleagues and lifelong friends, and people he saw at the restaurant every day,” said his son, Tim. “My dad loved his routine, and he loved talking to people. He loved to hear their stories.”

Baltz had taught at Joliet Central since 2000.

Before then, he had a variety of pursuits. He was an actor in Chicago and New York. He had a picture frame business in Joliet for 20 years. He had taught classes at Joliet Junior College and the University of St. Francis.

Baltz’s talents included writing, painting and woodcrafting.

“He was like a Renaissance man,” said close friend Linda Ragusa Bowers, a fellow teacher at Joliet Central.

He had a deep knowledge of local history, too, Bowers said.

“He loved Joliet,” she said. “His family was from Joliet. He knew the history of Joliet.”

When the Meade Baltz paint store closed in 2016 after 140 years in business, Baltz was brought in as "the family historian" to tell the store's history to The Herald-News.

Baltz’s father was Paul Meade Baltz, and the maiden name of his mother, Lydia, was Peeling. He told how the store was under a different family ownership but originally was named Peeling Paint.

“Anybody in town would not think it was a funny name, but for people coming into town, it was hilarious,” Baltz said.

Baltz’s connections to one of Joliet’s longest lasting family businesses might have contributed to what Bowers said was a passion for supporting local stores and restaurants.

“He’d say, ‘Let’s go to breakfast,’ and we would always go to a Joliet diner,” she said. “We’d never go to the chain restaurants. It was always a Joliet diner. We’d walk in there, and everyone would say, ‘Hi, Joe.’ ”

Bowers said Baltz retired from teaching as he battled amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.

“He worked until he couldn’t work anymore,” she said.

Baltz’s photography classes were among the most popular at Joliet Central, Bowers said.

He received a Joliet Area Great Teacher Award in 2002. In 2014, the Rainbow Push Coalition awarded Baltz its Teacher of the Year Award. His students were featured in the photo magazines Shutterbug and Silvershotz.

“He taught students not only how to use a camera but how to understand a camera,” Bowers said. “Joe always would take time to focus on an image. He took time to focus on people.”

The attention his father gave to people throughout his life was evident in the people who came to his memorial service, Tim said.

“He literally thought everybody had something to offer the world,” Tim said. “I was moved by the array of people he had touched in his life.”