--- alias: - Albert Hoersch Sr. category: Crime & Abuse Networks created: 2026-09-23 died: 1972-07-01 location: 417 West Chew Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania relations: - end: 1968 fn: 1 type: spouse_of with: '[[Helen E. Hoersch]]' - fn: 2 role: father type: relative_of with: '[[Raymond C. Hoersch]]' - fn: 2 role: grandfather type: relative_of with: '[[R.C. Horsch]]' summary: Philadelphia grandfather of the pornographer R.C. Horsch, whose house at 417 West Chew Street in Olney became the house searched in the 2026 Olney House Investigation. tags: - Person - RCHorsch - Philadelphia - Olney updated: 2026-09-23 --- Albert Hoersch (died July 1, 1972, aged 81) lived at 417 West Chew Street in the Olney section of Philadelphia, the house later owned by his grandson, the pornographer and fugitive [R.C. Horsch](/people/rc-horsch/), and from 2007 by his great-grandson [Eugene Horsch](/people/eugene-horsch/), and searched by the Philadelphia Police Department and the [FBI](/organizations/federal-bureau-of-investigation/) in the [Olney House Investigation](/events/olney-house-investigation/) of 2026.[^1][^2][^3] ### Family He was married to [Helen E. Wissman](/people/helen-e-hoersch/), who died at the Chew Street house on August 27, 1968; the family belonged to Grace United Methodist Church, which was invited to her funeral. Their children were Albert Hoersch Jr., a lieutenant in the [United States Navy](/organizations/us-navy/) in the Second World War who died in 1976, [Raymond C. Hoersch](/people/raymond-c-hoersch/), and [Helen M. Hoersch](/people/helen-m-hoersch/), who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, lived in Philadelphia all her life, and died in 2004.[^1][^2][^4][^5] In January 1955 Mr. and Mrs. Albert Hoersch of Philadelphia were reported as recent guests of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Hoersch in Bucks County.[^6] ### Death He died on July 1, 1972. His funeral service was held at the Schneider Funeral Home, 617-619 West Olney Avenue, and he was buried in Hillside Cemetery, as his wife had been. The city's deed index records a deed of October 1, 2007, naming his daughter Helen M. Hoersch, who had died in 2004, as grantor ("Hoersch Helen M") and Eugene A. Horsch as grantee.[^1][^2][^3][^7] His grandson said in 2013 that he had suffered from depression all his life and added, "I think my grandfather, my paternal grandfather, died of it."[^8] [^1]: "Hoersch, Helen E. Wissman," death notice, *The Philadelphia Inquirer,* August 29, 1968, p. 32 ("wife of Albert Hoersch, of 417 W. Chew st., Aug. 27, 1968. Relatives, friends and Grace United Methodist Church, are invited ... SCHNEIDER FUNERAL HOME, 617-19 W. Olney ave. Int. Hillside Cem."). https://www.newspapers.com/image/182120759/ [^2]: "Hoersch, Albert," death notice, *The Philadelphia Inquirer,* July 3, 1972, p. 10 ("aged 81 years, beloved husband of the late Helen Wissmer Horesch [sic] and father of Albert Jr., Raymond C., Helen M Hoersch, 417 W. Chew st., July 1, 1972 ... SCHNEIDER FUNERAL HOME, 617-19 W. Olney ave. Int. Hillside Cem."). https://www.newspapers.com/image/180006503/ [^3]: "How a pornographer's violent fantasies blurred fact and fiction as cops searched Olney house for missing women," *The Philadelphia Inquirer,* August 2, 2026. https://www.inquirer.com/news/a/raymond-eugene-horsch-olney-philadelphia-missing-women-history-20260802.html [^4]: "Hoersch, Helen M.," death notice, *The Philadelphia Inquirer,* April 7, 2004, p. B12. https://www.newspapers.com/image/201102740/ [^5]: Find a Grave memorial 25275352, "Albert Hoersch Jr.," headstone inscription "LT US Navy WWII," St. Mark's Episcopal Church Cemetery, West Nantmeal Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/25275352/albert-hoersch [^6]: [Social column], *The Daily Intelligencer* (Doylestown), January 10, 1955, p. 2. https://www.newspapers.com/image/40163522/ [^7]: City of Philadelphia, Department of Records, real estate transfer index, 417 W. Chew Ave., deed document 51798675, executed October 1, 2007, recorded October 26, 2007, grantor "Hoersch Helen M," grantee "Horsch Eugene A"; later mortgages of 2007 and 2009 and satisfaction of 2025, via the city's open data (rtt_summary). https://phl.carto.com/api/v2/sql?q=SELECT%20*%20FROM%20rtt_summary%20WHERE%20street_address%20=%20%27417%20W%20CHEW%20AVE%27 [^8]: West, Ashley. "Ray Horsch: Sociopathic Villain," *The Rialto Report,* Podcast 27, 2013, audio at 1:29:47 to 1:29:57 (depression; audio preserved in a Wayback Machine capture of March 31, 2019). https://web.archive.org/web/20190331064614/http://traffic.libsyn.com/therialtoreport/27_Rialto_Report_027_-_Ray_Horsch__Sociopathic_Villain.mp3