Joe Richard Berry

Reliable, steady, impeccably moral, all around nice - Joe Berry, the quintessential good guy passed from this earth to his heavenly home on July 31, 2024 at the age of 77. Joe would loan you his lawnmower, help you move across town, give you a few bucks to help you out and give you the shirt off his back. His generous nature wasn’t a one time event but his personality and lifestyle.

Joe started out with some deep roots on the coast in the Texas City and La Marque area. While working at the family run Dairy Top in La Marque he met his soul mate, Sandra Lynn Irish. They made a great team as they journeyed through life together. They married in 1968 and spent 52 years together building a life and a family. They had ups and downs like everyone else, but they were together through thick and thin. A brief look at their photo albums and it is abundantly clear they cherished each other and had lots of fun on their sojourn through life together. Moving to the Austin area in the early 70’s they would spend the rest of their lives there working, living life, having fun and raising two boys.

Scott and Matt are definitely “chips off the old block”. Joe was a great example and teacher. He taught them things like; how to play sports, be competitive, wrestle, fish, shoot, work hard, have fun and be kind to others. Most of it took. He was incredibly proud of his boys and, in turn, they were incredibly proud of him.

Joe has always been a working man and a lot of that discipline was instilled in him because he was a sergeant in the US Marine Reserves. He had a great appreciation and love for his time in the Marine Corp and passed that enthusiasm on to others. He relished being a Teufelshunde (aka “devil dog”) and proudly flew his Marine Corp flag.

Joe was very successful in work and had a long career working for various companies in the Austin area. Both he and Sandra started out working at Tracor in Austin. Joe also worked at places like Motorola and BAE systems where he negotiated incredibly large military contracts with the US government.

Although hard work was a hallmark of his character, he really cherished his family and friends. He was incredibly close to his sainted mother Betty Berry, as well as his sister Jill and brother-in-law Stan Penna. He and Sandra also would go out of their way to connect with family back in the La Marque area. Vacations with Sharon and Pat were a consistent rhythm of their summers and time off. Lots of fun was had with shrimp pig-outs, fishing trips, and Christmases with the entire gang. Then there is the cul-de-sac crew known as the Crawfords. Joe, Betty, Clark and Grant were always up for a good time with their next door neighbors. There were numerous other close friends and relationships that were all very important to Joe.

Joe loved his sons and his daughter-in-laws, Michelle (Scott’s wife) and Luanne (Matt’s wife). Joe had four grandkids; Hannah, Emily, Megan and Luke. They could all count on grandpa filling their Christmas gift bag with scratch off tickets and then enjoying watching their faces as they checked to see who would win and who would come up empty.

Although he was more on the private side, Joe was a faithful church goer of Hope Presbyterian. He made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ as His Lord and Savior. Being quintessentially good is not enough. Faith in Christ is the only way and Joe had trusted in Christ. Because of that faith we know and rejoice that Joe is with His loving Savior.

There will be a small memorial service on August 29th at 12 noon at Cook-Walden Chapel of the Hills.