Donzetta Nuxhall was content to remain in the shadow of her famous husband, legendary Reds broadcast and pitcher Joe Nuxhall.
But Donzetta, who died Thursday morning at 93, was plenty busy. She was a devoted mother raising their two sons, Phil and Kim. She clipped and pasted newspaper clippings into numerous scrapbooks and framed photos from Joe's 63 years with the Reds. She was the one who didn't approve of teenage son Phil buying hip-hugger jeans in the 1960s, and insisted he take them back to the store.
Hamilton native Donzetta Houston met her future husband at LeSourdsville Lake Amusement Park north of Hamilton in 1946, two years after Joe's historic debut pitching for the Cincinnati Reds at 15.
They married Oct. 4, 1947, after Joe graduated from high school. They were the same age, but Joe had to repeat the fourth grade after missing too much school recovering from a ruptured appendix.
Donzetta moved with Joe as he pitched for teams in Muncie, Charleston, Tulsa, Kansas City and San Diego. She got used to doing things on her own. She delivered their sons Phil and Kim alone, because Joe was on road trips with his team when she went into labor.
"Donzetta was the glue that made the astounding career of her husband possible," said a statement from the Nuxhall Foundation in Fairfield announcing her death Thursday. "Donzetta was there to ensure that all was well and taken care of at the Nuxhall family home. While Joe was away playing and broadcasting, Donzetta took responsibility for raising the family and providing a warm and encouraging home life for Joe, Phil and Kim."
At the Fairfield Joe Nuxhall Hope gala fundraiser in April 2007 — eight months before Joe died at age 79 — Joe tearfully thanked his wife of 59 years.
"I've taken a lot of accolades, and a lot of nice things have been said, but I can't tell you" — he choked back tears as his voice cracked — "You're a wonderful woman, Donzetta."
As outgoing as Joe was, that's how shy Donzetta was — except around me. As I wrote in my book, Joe Nuxhall: The Old Lefthander & Me, she was always talkative when we'd meet at events. She'd ask about my three sons. We exchanged Christmas cards. When I was researching my book, we talked for three hours at the kitchen table of her Fairfield home, much to the surprise of her sons.
She even let me take a selfie with her at a Reds Hall of Fame event in 2015 — even though Joe had told me how much she didn't like being photographed reading the paper with her husband by the Enquirer in 1956 for a sports story.
"She wasn't happy with this," Joe told me in 1996 when he showed me the photo in their basement. "She doesn't go for that stuff. And she's real photogenic too."
Joe loved the spotlight, enthralling fans with his stories. Shy Donzetta was happy to be ignored when people constantly interrupted their meals in a restaurant to talk to her husband.
Fans "pretty much came up whenever they wanted to, even when we were eating," she told me. "But it never bothered him, because he'd eat and talk at the same time! He loved being around people. He got a lot attention, and he loved it. I'm glad I didn't have to talk to a lot of people, or do any of that."
She was attracted to the tall left-hander by his laugh. "I remember he would laugh from his toes on up! He laughed so hard, it seemed like it came from his toes. You could hear him all over laughing."
Donzetta was surprised that her husband chose a radio career after retiring as a player during spring training in 1967.
"I just couldn't imagine him on the radio. English was never his good subject," she told me. "He was not a talker. We never discussed the games."
Once on the air, she was his biggest critic. She'd review his broadcasts over breakfast the next day.
Joe told me in 1986: "She'll say, 'You used 'you know' about 400 times last night.' " To which Donzetta instantly replied with a laugh: "But he doesn't listen to me."
After Joe died in 2007, at age 79, "Donzetta was one of the chief supporters of the projects that helped to establish the Nuxhall Foundation. At every pivotal juncture in her husband’s legacy, Donzetta was there to honor him with a kind smile," the foundation statement noted.
She cut the ribbon in 2012 for the Joe Nuxhall Miracle League Fields in Fairfield for special needs athletes of all ages. At age 91, she took the first swing at the Miracle League Field's mini-golf course in 2019 — and sunk a hole-in-one as Kim, Marty Brennaman and the crowd watched in amazement.
"At every event hosted by The Nuxhall Foundation, Donzetta was there with her warm smile, a tender hug, and encouraging words. Donzetta inspired many with her quiet generosity, and her legacy of selflessness will always be remembered," the foundation statement said.
A private burial will take place in the coming weeks. Plans to celebrate her life are still developing and will be announced at a later date by the Nuxhall Foundation.
