Joseph Eugene Castana

Joe, a beloved husband, father and grandfather, was born on May 19, 1929 in Highland, NY to the late Vincent Castana and Mary Rollo Castana.

Joe grew up in Flatbush, Brooklyn where he attended St Francis Catholic High School and St Francis College. He graduated with a BA from St. Francis in 1951. In 1952, he enlisted in the US Marine Corps where he was stationed at Camp LeJeune in North Carolina during the Korean War. He worked in a JAG office reviewing violations of the UNIFORM CODE of Military Justice.

Upon honorable discharge from the Marines, Joe entered into a long and fulfilling career in the auto finance industry. He spent 25 years with Chrysler Credit Financial Corp where he managed the credit divisions of numerous dealerships in the Northeast. In 1986, Chrysler transferred Joe to Atlanta, GA to oversee the Southeast region and Puerto Rico. A few years later, he took an early retirement from Chrysler and embarked on a second career with Manheim Auto Auctions, a division of Cox Enterprises. He spent 10 happy years at Manheim traveling to auto auctions across the country. Joe made many lifelong friends both at Chrysler and Manheim. He retired From Manheim in 1998.

Joe absolutely cherished growing up in Brooklyn. He fondly would tell story after story of playing stick ball in the street, going to Ebbetts Field to see the Dodgers play baseball, walking to the local candy store to buy 4 malted milk balls for 5 cents, hanging out with friends in Coney Island and spending time with his parents and 4 older sisters.

Joe’s family referred to him as "Gene” because he had an older sister Josephine who went by Jo. Since Eugene was his middle name, "Gene” or "Genie” became his lifelong family nicknames. He was the "baby” of the family having 4 older sisters. The oldest, Marie, was 16 years his senior, then Josephine (13 years), followed by Violet who was 10 years older and Norma being much closer in age with only a 3 year difference.

Joe learned to be a great dancer and was introduced to music and dance routines from his sisters grabbing him to practice the foxtrot and shag so they could impress their dates. Although the age differences were vast, he was extremely close to all of them.

Joe married Marilynn Doyle on July 29, 1961 at Good Shepard Catholic Church in Inwood, NY. The two then settled in Bayside, Queens where they purchased their first home. Joe was a handyman at heart and was known for being able to fix or build anything. He worked tirelessly on the house transforming it into their dream home while simultaneously renovating a summer cabin in Denville, NJ where the couple escaped the city on weekends to enjoy nature and the lake.

In April 1964, they welcomed their first child Christine and 18 months later in December 1965 their daughter Cathy was born. They lived in Bayside, Queens until moving to Kinnelon, NJ in 1970.

Both Marilynn and Joe will recount 1970-1986 living in Smoke Rise, NJ in Kinnelon as the happiest 16 years of their lives. Here they thrived in this close knit community as well as their beloved parish, Our Lady of the Magnificat. Their social and spiritual lives were closely intertwined making lifelong friendships and creating countless cherished memories. In 1986, a job transfer with Chrysler took them to Atlanta, GA where they settled in Dunwoody and remained in the same home until both of their passings.

Joe had a deep faith and cherished his Catholic beliefs. He fondly would recall many stories of the Jesuit priests who taught him in both High School and College. He attended church every Sunday and when no longer able to physically leave his house, he looked forward to being joined in prayer and receiving Holy Communion at home by priests and Eucharistic Ministers from his parish St. Jude the Apostle in Sandy Springs.

Joe was a "one of kind” guy. Once you met him, you never forgot him. He had a larger than life personality, loved dirty martinis with blue cheese stuffed olives, was over the top neat, clean and organized and could build or fix anything. His garbage was practically gift wrapped, his workshop where he loved to tinker, fix and build was painstakingly labeled and every item down to a tiny screw had its place. He was paying bills and balancing his checkbook to the penny until a few weeks before his passing.

He had a huge passion for cars and could name every old car he saw in a movie within seconds telling you the make, model and year. His first car that he was so proud of was a 1947 Studebaker. He later owned and restored a 1931 Ford Model A, as well as a 1970 convertible Dodge Challenger.

Surprisingly his very favorite car was his last, a 2014 Chrysler 300 series C that he lovingly referred to as "Black Beauty”. He talked about this car with crazy fondness. If a family member ever borrowed it, he would not rest until "she” was back in the garage. Up until a few weeks before his passing, he was driving Black Beauty to the mailbox to get the mail and papers. Fearing he would not be able to drive her, he made the journey to DMV in May just before his 95th birthday and renewed his driver’s license. He was issued a new license that expired in 2032.

Joe’s favorite music was the era of the Rat Pack. In the mid 1940’s, he would go see Count Basie, Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey play at local nightclubs in NYC. After Sinatra became famous, he continued to see him in concert and knew every word to every song and wasn’t afraid to belt them out.

True to himself, Joe left this earth "HIS WAY”. He took his very last breath to the very last note of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way”.

Joe is predeceased by his wife of 62 years Marilynn Castana and his 4 sisters Marie Burnett, Josephine Viaggio, Violet Falcone and Norma Ricca. He is survived by his 2 daughters Christine (James) Santoro and Cathy (Todd) Roseberry, his 4 grandchildren Gianna and Kelly Santoro and JD and Reid Roseberry as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

A celebration of Life Mass will be held on September 20, 2024 at 10 am at St Jude the Apostle Catholic Church in Sandy Springs.

In lieu of flowers, a donation can be made to Joe’s favorite charity, the Marine Corps Toys for Tots.