Joe moved from Greenpoint to Malverne in 1963 when his sister's family, who had been residing in Lynbrook, found he, his father and his aunt a house across the street from Our Lady of Lourdes.  

Joe’s directives to his sister were that the house be near a church, a train and walking distance into a town.   That was 55 years ago.  Joe has no regrets and no intentions of moving. 

 

He quickly became involved in the Holy Name Society and lectoring at masses before he had to give them up due to work obligations. But it was then that Fr. Singleton asked for his assistance in hosting Friday Night Teen Club dances at Our Lady of Lourdes.

 

As an adult daily church attendee, Joe would frequently fill-in as an altar server at the 6:45 am mass when the younger servers were not available.

 

Upon retirement from the NYPD, he pursued volunteer work with his passion, the Catholic church.  Joe’s police partner and fellow parishioner, Tom Ward, invited him to join the St Vincent DePaul Society where he has been an active member, going on 26 years.  He knows many of the clients by name. In the past, on several occasions, clients would even show up at Joe’s doorstep when they realized his proximity to the pantry; he would remind them of the pantry hours but usually assist them in their time of need.

 

In 1993 he volunteered as a lunch monitor at Our Lady of Lourdes school for 21 years (much to his youngest son's, Joseph's, embarrassment since Joseph was still attending OLL when his father began volunteering).  He would love to continue that work with the children, and briefly assisted in teaching in the CCD program…however, he was concerned that his balance was becoming an issue.  He frequently states that that he enjoyed being “Lord of the Lunchroom” because it gave him an opportunity to work with so many young people, many of whom still call out to him when they see him around town. 

 

Joe had been a member of the money counting team for many years, where he was reminded that a loud voice was NOT a requirement.   He recently opted to utilize his gift of a loud voice by volunteering to be a lector at the 7:30 am Sunday mass once a month and he is also a reader for the monthly Nocturnal Adoration Society.  

 

With the support of his beautiful wife of 52 years, Carol, they have raised 6 children,  and they continue to enjoy and take pride in 14 wonderful grandchildren (one of whom continues the OLL education tradition, which gives his grandparents much joy).  In addition to supporting Joe, Carol also supported the school with many years as a class mother, a CCD teacher and various roles as needed.