Joseph A. La Torre

Joseph Anthony La Torre was born October 4, 1947 in Detroit, Michigan the son of Vito and Josephine La Torre. He entered into rest January 18, 2019 at the age of 71. As a veteran, Joe was proud to have served his country. He was drafted into the U.S. army September of 1967 at the age of 20 years old, and served in Korea during the Vietnam War era. He was actively involved in the Korean DMZ conflict during the imprisonment of the crew of the USS Pueblo by the North Korean government; he drove Armored Personnel Carriers. Joe also spent time as a keypunch operator providing data entry of priority military information. After serving for two years, he was honorably discharged in 1969 with the rank of Specialist 4th Class. Joe was interested in computers and technology and grew that into a career for over the next 30 years. He was employed at General Motors in a supervisory role, and later moved on to EDS servicing voice, data and communications equipment. In 1972 he married Mary La Torre (Maranzano) after being introduced September of 1971 by close family friends. They forged roots in Fraser where they raised their three daughters, Andrea, Jacqueline, and Melissa, and built a life together. They were married for 46 years. Joes purpose and priority was caring for his family. He was incredibly generous and caring and always made sure his loved ones were taken care of. As a child Joe wanted to be an astronaut; as an adult his carried his passion for space into his interests. Star Trek and Stargate SG1 were two of his favorite shows. He also loved baseball, and was an avid baseball card collector. Mickey Mantle and Al Kaline were two of his favorite players. Joes other hobbies including collecting coins, cooking, gardening, and spending time with his grandchildren whom he adored. He will be deeply missed by his wife Mary, his daughters Andrea La Torre, Jacqueline (Brian) Smiatacz, and Melissa (Mario) Bernal, his sister Rose (Vernon) Yuhasz, and his treasured grandchildren Adam Smiatacz, Grace Smiatacz, and Mario Bernal. Visitation will be held on Tuesday, January 22, 2019 from 1:00 pm until 8:00pm at A.H. Peters Funeral Home, 32000 Schoenherr Rd. (at Masonic) Warren. He will be instate on Wednesday, January 23, 2019 at 11:30am until time of Mass at 12:00 pm at St. Thecla Catholic Church, 20762 S. Nunneley Rd., Clinton Township. Memorials may be made to the Disabled Veterans of America, and Solanus Casey Center of Detroit. Please Share a Memory on our guest book.

Funeral Home:

A.H. Peters Funeral Home of Warren

32000 Schoenherr Road,

Warren, MI

US 48088