Joseph Harold Luigs

Joseph Harold Luigs, 87, left us August 25, 2014 to be with the Lord. Joe was born July 11, 1927 in St. Johns, Kentucky and was the middle child in a family of three siblings. He grew up in Paducah, Kentucky were he loved to play sports and cards (sheep, Euchre and Pinochle), was active in his church, loved being an altar boy and spent a lot of time with his family and father. During his early years he went by the name Harold. Joe graduated from St. Marys academy in 1945 and earned a full scholarship to Notre Dame where he spent two weeks before he was drafted into the Navy. He was honorably discharged in 1946 and returned to Paducah where he became the assistant manager for Bowes Industries, a large paper plate manufacturer. Early in 1951, he transferred to Watertown, New York to open a new plant for Bowes, where he met Alvina Mary Giannini and, six months later, on December 29th, 1951, he and Alvina were married. Joe and Alvina moved back to Kentucky where their first daughter was born. They then moved to Southern California where they added six more daughters and one son. Joe spent some time working at McDonnell Douglas, then as a retail clerk and finally for Prudential Insurance, where he was known as Joseph (Joe). Joe was active in the local church, St Pius V and was a member of the Knights of Columbus Kass Council for over 51 years. When Joe retired, he and Alvina moved to Banning, CA, returning to Orange County in 2010 to be close to their children. Joe enjoyed playing sports and watching sports. His favorite local sports teams were the Los Angeles Lakers, LA Dodgers and USC football team. Joe also loved hats, collecting upwards of 200 baseball caps. He was an avid reader, reading all types of books (religious, political, biographies, fiction), but was a particular fan of books written by Louis LAmour (westerns) and Erle Stanley Gardner (Perry Mason). Joe was a source of encouragement to his children, some of whom refer to him as Mr. Positive Reinforcement because he ALWAYS had words of encouragement and thought that they could accomplish anything. He gave the best hugs and told his children all the time that he loved them. He was a positive, generous and optimistic man; full of joy, he loved to laugh and make others laugh. He is described by his cousin as having charisma; everyone who knew Joe was drawn to him and loved him. Joes faith in God was always a priority and was obvious in the way he loved his family and raised his children. Joe once gave his son the following words of wisdom that will be his legacy, Perry, you will need to have priorities in life that will get you through. The first priority is to God. Your second priority is to your wife and the last priority is to your children. After that nothing else matters. Joe is survived by his spouse of 63 years, 8 children, 5 son-in-laws, one daughter-in-law, 17 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren. A memorial service was held August 28, 2014 at St. Pius V Catholic Church in Buena Park, CA. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Alzheimers Association, Orange County Chapter, 2515 McCabe Way, Suite 200, Irvine, CA 92614, [email protected].