Joseph J Serra Sr.

Joe Serra Sr. led a full and interesting life. He was born in Rome, NY on May 16th, 1931. He was the second of five children: one older and one younger brother and two younger sisters. Born amid the Great Depression, life was sometimes hard for the family. He told stories of the adventures he and his older brother Louie would have while walking the railroad track that ran behind their house, with potato sacks in hand, picking up the coal that fell off the train in order to heat their home and cook supper with. After dark, they would forage in neighborhood gardens for vegetables but always left some behind, as not to be greedy of course.

He was sure to go to school and graduate because that’s what his mother wanted. He also worked while in school as a bicycle delivery boy for Western Union. One day while making a delivery, a man ran over Joe’s bike and destroyed it. Joe was really upset but fortunately the man admitted it was his fault and took him to the bicycle shop and bought him a new bike and life carried on. Come to find out, in 1956, when Joe and his wife went to buy their first house and found their loan was turned down because of a bad mark on their credit report, it turned out that the gentleman never paid the bill for the new bike and the bicycle shop owner reported the bad debt on Joe’s name. Joe and his wife paid the bicycle shop and got their house.

After graduation he got a job with the railroad he used to walk alongside as a youth. Every day he would go to the depot and pick up a pail, and with a big hammer and a bunch of rail spikes, he would head out down the track looking for loose or missing spikes and fix them. He walked seven miles down the track and seven miles back, rain or shine. He said he didn’t like it at all but that it was the only job he could find, as jobs were scarce at the time. One day just like any other, he headed to work and decided on the spur of the moment to get on the train and travel to the next city with a recruiting office and enlisted himself in the Air Force. He came home, quit his job, and told the family he was leaving. He was then stationed at MacDill AFB in Tampa, FL, where he met his wife, got married, and had four sons: Thomas, Joe Jr., Paul, and Danny.

Sometime around 1960, Serra’s Swimming Pool Service got its start and that’s what Joe did for his entire working career until retiring and going to work part-time at Publix. He was indeed always a good Husband, Father, Uncle, Grandfather and Great Grandfather. He was a wonderful host of the many parties held at his home and always the life of the party. He made friends everywhere he went. His likes and hobbies were many and varied and changed with the times of his life. He enjoyed gambling at Derby Lane and introduced it to two of his sons, Joe Jr and Tom, teaching them the “ins and outs” of the dog track. He also enjoyed Jai Alai and trips to Las Vegas and later in life, trips to Biloxi.

He was good at building things and fixing things and he loved to tinker. He enjoyed macramé, string art, and collecting. He gravitated toward woodworking, and after his wife passed, woodworking became his passion. Look around your house, chances are you have something he made for you out of his workshop because when you visited, you never went home empty handed. He went for a walk every evening, be it with friends and their pets, or alone so that he could collect in peace. He enjoyed being in his workshop with the door open so that he could hear his neighbors play music and be able to wave at his friends as they drove by. He was always willing to accompany his grandsons Joey, Tommy, Tony, and Sean to many Tampa Bay Ray’s games but for some reason, was always a little reluctant to join his granddaughter Jillian for their spa dates; however, if she promised him a hamburger and a stroll on the beach afterward, he couldn’t resist. And when his granddaughters Jenifer, Jillian, Brandy, and Hilary were far away, he made sure we all felt close as he would give us all his old shirts and flannels so that we could keep his kind and loving spirit close to our hearts.

I, Thomas, eldest of Joe’s four sons, would like to end with a story I think really shows the kind of man my father was. I think it was around 1973 and it was Mothers Day. Big party at the house and everyone was going to be there. Grandma Rose was going to be there and that meant your presence was mandatory. The night before, I was out with friends and had an accident with my Volkswagen; rolled it onto its side. No one was hurt and I drove the car home and parked it out back so it wouldn’t be noticed, or so I thought. My Mother had gone out to check the yard and saw my car. She came in the house in a panic first to make sure I was okay and second to figure out how to hide the car so my Father wouldn’t see it. He would have been a little upset. We thought we took care of the situation. The day went off without a hitch and it was a great party. Of course my Mother and I were sweating bullets all day. After the party was over and everyone left, my Mother told My Father we all had to talk. I started to tell him what happened and he just looked at us and said, “I know.” He had gone out early that day and saw my car, came in the house and peeked in on me to see that I was okay, and then carried on the rest of the day without an inclination that anything was wrong. His justification was that he didn’t want to upset my Mother on her day and hopefully she wouldn’t walk that far out back and see anything.

All good things must come to pass, and my father’s passing is the end of an era. All the Paglia sisters and their husbands are together and I, for one, can certainly envision that gathering because the life of the party has taken his place.