Joseph Alois Pietsch

A loving husband of 58 years to his wife Johanna, Joe was a man of integrity and dignity with a gentle strength of character; he was a gentleman in the truest sense of the word.

He was born in Richmond, Virginia in 1926 to his parents Joseph and Anna. At the age of three, Joseph and Anna moved Joe and his siblings to Minnesota to be closer their parents and his grandparents. Growing up as a child of the Great Depression and World War Two, Joe was a member of "The Greatest Generation" he had a strength of character and patriotism that is not so commonplace in today's world. He enlisted early in the United States Navy at the age of 17 to serve his country in a time of war, and it was here that Joe began his long association with technology and engineering. He was responsible for SONAR, RADAR and radio operations on board his vessel as he was deployed as part of the US occupation force in the Far East, serving on ship patrolling the Yellow and Yangtze rivers in China.

Upon completion of his service to his country, Joe attended the University of Minnesota on the GI Bill and received a double major with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree with a focus on industrial electronics. Upon graduation, he was offered and accepted a position with General Electric Corporation which would have he and his wife live in Louisville Kentucky and then Tyler Texas. What he could not have foreseen was that as he finished his matriculation at The University of Minnesota, all that he had learned in the US Navy and in college in the field electronics and vacuum tube technology was about to be completely and quickly changed and replaced with the invention of the transistor; Joe, to say the least, adapted well. He found it ironic that after growing up in Minnesota where ice boxes were kept cool all summer by the frozen harvest of the long winter, and his only exposure to artificial cooling as a child was at a summer Saturday matinee, his career would focus on refrigeration and air conditioning.

With 21 patents spanning almost 50 years, Joe has almost certainly kept your home a little cooler in the summer, kept you food fresher a little longer in your frig and kept your hands and feet warmer in the winter. He was widely published in his field and extremely well respected within it. With over 32 years at GE in various lead design and management positions, a Vice President at Northrup, Inc. for several years and numerous significant private consulting endeavors, Joe's expertise was often also called upon as an expert witness in numerous trials for both plaintiff and defendant.

In his private life, Joe had a love of golf and took pleasure in playing it with his friends and his lovely wife Johanna. It was something he always enjoyed, even after Johanna began to best him on the links. Golf remained a central part of his parents Joseph F. A. Pietsch and Anna Pietsch. He is survived by his wife and love of his life Johanna, his brother Roger, his sisters Charlotte St. Martin, Sister Mary Joyce of the order of Notre Dame and Joann Blocky. Joe is also survived by numerous nieces, nephews and in-laws. Joe will be deeply missed by all who loved him and knew him. A Memorial Service celebrating his life will be held in Louisville, Kentucky on January 23rd with a local remembrance at the Edgemere Residence on a date yet to be determined. Online condolences may be made at www.Sparkman-Hillcrest.com.