After a long battle with cancer, Joel Lezcano, age 24, passed away at 1:30 PM Sunday November 18, 2018 at home surrounded by his family. Joel was born on Friday October 21, 1994 at 8:30 AM in Fort Lauderdale Florida. He lived in Coral Springs with his family and attended Coral Glades High School. After graduating in 2013, he attended Atlantic Technical College where he enrolled in a lifestyles program to aid him in preparing for the future.
Joel’s passion was collecting and creating photo albums of his family. It was a gift he left us all to cherish forever. He found comfort in arts and crafts and anytime he came across a new project you could guarantee he would be at Michaels Arts and Crafts that same day. Shopping with his mother and grandmother was a frequent pastime of his which regularly ended in a trip to their favorite restaurants. Joel would take this opportunity to order his all-time favorite food, the JB tempura roll.
Collecting action figures, movies, video games and music were also a large part of Joel’s life. At family events, he was the first one to choose the playlist and always made sure to pull his mother onto the dance floor at least once throughout the evening. His ideal game was Mortal Kombat and everyone knew if you played him, you never had a shot at winning. His chosen movies were Rocky and Scarface. You could guarantee that his father was right beside him watching as they recited some of their favorite lines. A few of his collectibles included Dragon Ball Z, Marvel Universe, Justice League and DC Universe. These shows reinforce the concept of good versus evil. Out of all of them, Dragon-ball Z was his favorite. It teaches valuable character virtues such as teamwork, loyalty, and trustworthiness. That is what defined Joel.
From the moment he was born, the one thing he did best was bring joy into people’s lives. Joel battled brain cancer his entire life. He had multiple surgeries as well as chemotherapy and radiation, yet his positive outlook on life was left unchanged. Regardless of the circumstance, there was always a smile on his face that proved to be contagious. If you were not aware of Joel’s illness, you would have never guessed it. Despite all the odds against him, he went with the flow continuing to put others before himself. He was the sweetest and kindest person you could ever meet. A true dedicated friend and a family oriented young man who taught us all how to embrace life and love one another.
He loved family more than anything in the world. Whether it was a shopping trip to the mall with his mother and grandmother, or a drive to the store with his father, if he had his family by his side, Joel could achieve anything. He fought like a champion for his entire life and passed away as one.
Family and friends are invited to attend a Celebration of Joel’s life gathering on Saturday December 15th from 6-8 PM at the Kraeer Funeral Home located 1 North State Road 7 Margate Florida, 33063. We encourage all to bring any memorabilia or photographs they have of Joel to join in on the celebration of his life. The family asks that you spend time with your children. Take a walk on the beach with your loved ones and make a toast to enduring friendships lifelong and beyond. That is what Joel would wish.
