Joseph Francis Yurso

Captain Yurso was born on July 5, 1930, in Hazleton, Pennsylvania. He was predeceased by his parents, Joseph James Yurso and Anna (Payne) Yurso, first wife Helen, and sister Anna May Yurso. He is survived by his second wife of 32 years, Barbara Yurso, his son Dr. J. Michael Yurso (Victoria), and daughter, Joanne Yurso, his grandchildren, Mary Elisabeth Cassidy (Patrick), Lieutenant John (Lieutenant Luisandrea ‘Lucy’) Yurso, Christopher Brown and Saralynne (Louis) Yorey, and great grandchildren Oliver, Aster and Michael. He is also survived by his stepdaughters, Lisa Grasty and Michele McLain (Robert), his step grandchildren Michael Newsome, Christopher Newsome (Alexes), Wayne Fund and Meghann Fund, and step great grandchildren Ellizabeth, Shawn, Kendrick, Luna, Kyree and Nova.

Captain Yurso embodied a lifelong commitment to service, integrity, faith, and engineering excellence. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, later completing advanced management training at Carnegie Mellon University.

Commissioned in 1955 as an Engineering Duty Officer, Captain Yurso devoted more than three decades to naval service, rising to the rank of Captain in 1975. His distinguished career included key leadership and command roles across the Navy’s shipbuilding and fleet maintenance enterprise. He served as Planning and Quality Assurance Officer at the Supervisor of Shipbuilding in Groton, Connecticut; Ship Maintenance Officer to the Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet; Deputy Chief Executive Officer at the Supervisor of Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia; and Production Officer at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. He later assumed two major command tours—first as Supervisor of Shipbuilding in Groton, Connecticut, and subsequently as Commander of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine. He retired from active duty in 1984.

Following his Navy career, Captain Yurso continued to influence the maritime community for more than 30 years as an executive leader with Q.E.D. Systems, Inc. in Virginia Beach, serving as Group Manager, Chief Engineer, and later Director of Technical Development. He held numerous professional and civic leadership roles, including National President of the American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE) from 1997 to 1999, President of the American Maritime Modernization Association (AMMA), and President of the Atlantic Fleet Credit Union. He also served in leadership positions with the American Society for Quality, the Tidewater Association of Service Contractors, and several local civic organizations.

Additionally, Captain Yurso was a past president of the Larkspur Civic League for many years and a past member of the Virginia Beach Council of Civic Organizations, and past president of the Lutheran Council of Tidewater, and a past member of the Sentara Layperson Council advising hospital administration about patient experience and safety.

Captain Yurso was widely respected within the naval engineering community as a thoughtful historian and meticulous analyst. He authored a technical monograph stemming from his graduate work, contributed numerous articles on submarine safety, and was especially recognized for his influential writings on the loss of the USS Thresher (SSN-593), including the widely cited “Unraveling the Thresher’s Story,” published in the U.S. Naval Institute’s Proceedings. He was quoted in Silent Strength, a book remembering the men who died in the Thresher accident as he was a young Lieutenant on duty at the shipyard the night of the loss. He also authored a book chapter, “Decline of the Seventies (1973–1980),” in Naval Engineering and American Sea Power (Kendall/Hunt, 2000), a definitive volume in the field. His scholarship and service earned him multiple national honors, including the Legion of Merit, the Frank G. Law Award for outstanding service to ASNE, and the Harold E. Saunders Lifetime Achievement Award, the Society’s highest technical honor.

Beyond his professional achievements, Captain Yurso lived a rich personal life distinguished by creativity, faith, generosity, and hands-on ingenuity. He was a devoted family man, deeply committed to supporting not only his immediate family but also his extended relatives and community. He believed in helping others succeed and consistently put that belief into action. For many years, he spent his evenings volunteering as a math tutor, providing patient, thoughtful instruction to school-aged children who relied on his guidance.

He was also an accomplished piano player, despite never having taken a formal lesson. As a young man, he listened to the boogie-woogie rhythms of In the Mood, sat down at a piano, and taught himself the entire song—playing it for more than fifty years. Over time he built a remarkable repertoire he could perform entirely from memory, entertaining church members and friends at social gatherings. When his daughter Joanne was taking lessons, her teacher, Mrs. Stober, invited him to the recitals, where father and daughter performed duets that became treasured family memories.

His faith was central to his life. He read the Bible daily, sang in the church choir for many years—including solos—and was an active, committed member of his congregation. His quiet but steady conviction shaped the way he led, served, and cared for others.

Captain Yurso’s mechanical aptitude was extraordinary, a hallmark recognized by everyone who knew him. He maintained all of the family’s cars himself well into the late 1970s. In one particularly memorable project, he and his son Mike overhauled the engine of the family’s 1962 Rambler Cross Country station wagon in the garage of their Virginia Beach home—an achievement emblematic of his skill, patience, and determination.

Captain Yurso was beloved for his steady presence, quiet humility, sharp intellect, and deep devotion to his family, colleagues, students, and community. Guided by a strong faith-based conviction that shaped every aspect of his life, he approached each task with purpose, compassion, and integrity. His unwavering belief in service to others left a legacy of honor, leadership, and grace that touched countless lives.

A visitation will be held at Smith & Williams Funeral Home/Kemp, located at 4889 Princess Anne Road, Virginia Beach, VA 23462, on December 5, 2025, from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

The funeral service will take place at St Timothy Lutheran Church, located at 1051 Kempsville Rd, Norfolk, VA 23502, on December 6, 2025, at 2:00 pm.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to St. Timothy Lutheran Church 1051 Kempsville Rd., Norfolk, VA 23502 (757) 461 3931 or the Joseph F. Yurso Scholarship Fund (Tidewater) to benefit deserving undergraduate and graduate students across the country studying naval engineering-related fields. If you have an ASNE log in you may donate at this link: https://www.navalengineers.org/support-ASNE/DonateNow If you do not have an ASNE log in, call (703) 836 6727 to donate.