Joseph M. Durante

“Give me a problem and I’ll hand you a solution.” Those who knew Joseph Mario Durante would agree that motto accurately described him. Joseph was a man of great drive and a very original, independent thinker. For Joseph, no challenge was impossible, and just about any desired result was within his grasp. Joseph placed great trust in his intuition. Since that intuition generally led him in the right direction, who was he to doubt it.

Joseph was born on October 6, 1934 at a Brooklyn, NY Hospital in Brooklyn, NY. He was the son of Angelo and Maria. His childhood found him in Besonhurst where he matured into the independent person he eventually became.

Joseph grew up with 3 siblings. Joseph could be seen as being stubborn by his siblings. It was important to him that he was perceived as “right” when it came to his part in those typical family spats. However, this quality did not overpower his caring for his family. This ability to balance his family, with his need to be seen as right, helped him to develop into a young adult while enjoying many good times with his family.

During his grade school years, Joseph was a very focused and serious student who actually enjoyed the challenge of many classroom problems. He was determined to succeed, and he drew upon his gifts of trust and perseverance to provide him with a competitive edge. While his first love might have been academics, Joseph took part in stickball. Joseph delighted in projects that required planning, critical thinking and resolution. Joseph's memorable achievements included art.

During high school, Joseph was relentless in his pursuit of learning, especially in those subject areas that really grabbed hold of his interests. It wasn't that he didn't put forth his best efforts in all classes, but if a subject really interested him, he would eagerly put forth extra effort to learn all he could. His favorite classes in high school were art and shop.

Joseph was loyal to his friends. He found that he was most in tune with people who had similar interests and thought about things much the way that he did. Joseph sometimes had a tendency to be critical in his friendships but he was more interested in finding out what was right in a situation rather than in being mean toward others. He never intentionally set out to hurt any of his friends. Joseph was a person who challenged others to fend for themselves and to be original in their thinking and evaluation of the outside world. While growing up, some of his best friends were Bernie, Pete and Joe. Later in life, he remained friends with Bernie, Pete and Joe.

On June 7, 1996, Joseph exchanged wedding vows with Joan Miller Brazer at in A Little White Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Joan's sensitivity to Joseph's needs proved to be a wonderful influence on this man, who preferred to live in his “gut.” Joan's influence brought Joseph to a new emotional level, one that eventually enhanced all of his other gifts and abilities. Joan was able to help Joseph appreciate the fact that others made contributions and Joseph became better at interacting with those around him. Because of this, Joseph grew as a person.

Joseph often neglected his own feelings in order to give to others. This was very true when it came to how he dealt with his children. He was able to hand on to each child a number of strong values. He taught them to appreciate their abilities, gave them a desire to persevere despite obstacles and set within them a drive to succeed. He had 3 children, Linda, Stephen and Anthony. He also had 6 grandchildren, Michael, Daniel, Nicole, Joe, Anthony and Christina. Joseph had 3 stepchildren Barry, Mitch and Bonnie, 7 more grandchildren Heidi, Sam, Matt, Megan, Rachel, Ali and Ryan and 2 great grandchildren Dylan and Dean. They were always aware of how much Joseph loved them.

During Joseph's professional working years, he was at his best when working independently. It became the hallmark of his performance. Joseph was generally able to refocus his drive and determination and readily work toward finding a way to get things done that was beneficial to himself and his co-workers. His primary occupation was as a lumberyard owner.

Joseph was an Army Veteran. He served in the Army in the United States.

For Joseph, his outside interests and hobbies became another exercise in learning and mastering areas that interested him. He greatly enjoyed unraveling the "hows" and "whys" that lay behind his hobbies. Joseph was always pushing himself to learn more and to stretch his knowledge base even further. He firmly believed that the more things that he knew the more control he would have over things. His favorite pursuits were art, painting, sculpting, and cabinet making.

Watching his favorite sporting events by himself was never a problem for Joseph. It allowed him to indulge in his own individual interpretation of the event. It was not uncommon for Joseph to know what the right play or move “should have been,” and he would vocally address these feelings even if there were no one around to hear them. And if there were others around, he would still state his feelings and gladly debate anyone on their opposing views. In high school, Joseph played stickball, hard ball and tennis. Recreational sports included tennis. He enjoyed following his favorite sporting events. A top on his list was baseball.

Joseph's faith allowed him to better appreciate the gifts and opinions of others. This deepening aspect of his life helped him to accept his own feelings to a greater degree. He was a member of the Catholic Church.

Joseph's skepticism was visible when he found it necessary to place too much trust in one person. This was never clearer than when it was time for him to schedule a vacation or period of time away from his regular schedule. Joseph loved the research aspects of planning a trip, but the actual process of relaxing was far more difficult. Still, he did manage to enjoy some time away. Favorite vacations included Spain, Caribbean Cruises, and Mexico.

When Joseph's retirement finally came in 2000, he was ready. He worked out many of the details in advance so that he could enjoy the time and not have to worry. His new life involved relocating to Plantation, Florida. In retirement, he found new pleasure in painting, sculpting and opera music.

Joseph Mario Durante passed away on July 18, 2014 in Plantation, Florida, due to complications from Parkinson's Disease. He is survived by his wife, children (3), step children (3), grandchildren (13), and great grandchildren (2). Services were held at Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens Funeral Home Davie, Florida. Joseph was laid to rest in Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens Cemetery Davie, Florida.

Joseph M. Durante was always drawn to what was measurable, practical and factual. He was a very competent person who expected competence from others. He could be headstrong and certain about the way things were supposed to be. He was determined in every aspect of his life and certain that he was usually right about things. He trusted his intuition over all else, even if it opposed the popular belief, and he had faith in his inner vision and speculations. He wanted to be acknowledged by others as having made a contribution to whatever he was working on. His family and friends will miss his fierce determination, relentless innovations and analytic mind. He leaves with all those who knew him many wonderful memories.