Lt. Col. (Ret) Joseph James DeBell

Texas passed away July 5th, 2026 surrounded by his loving family.

He leaves behind his wife Patricia Wilhite DeBell, four children Ronald DeBell and wife Mary, John DeBell and wife Melissa, Susanne DeBell, and Jeanne Polocheck and husband Layne; six grandchildren Ciara DeBell, Delaney Polocheck, Nicolette Polocheck, Joseph DeBell, Jessica Smith and Amanda Wolf.

Joseph was born in the town of Perry New York, to Josephine Sardinia DeBell and William “Bill” DeBell on May 30th, 1933. His father Bill disappeared in 1938; his mother Josephine died at 34 years of age in 1948. Joe was raised by his Grandparents Joe and Francis Sardinia of Perry NY.

Joe attended Perry Central School and Grover Cleveland High School in Queens, NY and the last two years of high school at Perry High School, graduating with honors in 1950. Though he had won the Bosch & Lomb Science Award and a scholarship to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, he left Perry and enlisted in the United States Air Force.

He was assigned to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas for basic training and then to Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi for training in Air Traffic Control Maintenance /GCA. The Korean War was underway and he was quickly assigned to Japan to a Maintenance facility in Tachikawa near Tokyo, with frequent temporary duty periods in Korea changing out damaged air traffic control equipment. After the Korean Armistice, Joe had several assignments in the US including: Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, Burlington AFB, Vermont and Samson AFB, New York.

In 1954 he met and married June Kathleen Brewster of Windsor, Ontario Canada. Assignments in England followed, where Joe was cited for training NATO personnel from Norway and Denmark in Air Traffic Control Systems and Ground Controlled Approach.

In 1959 Joe was selected to attend Air Force Officer Candidate School (OCS) at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. He graduated top in his OCS class and was awarded a Regular Commission as Second Lieutenant in the Air Force. Assigned to Keesler AFB in Biloxi, Mississippi again. He was first a student and then an instructor in large radar systems, electronic warfare and intelligence systems; teaching officer students from Egypt and Iran. He was later assigned to the U.S. AFCC Satellite Control Facility in Sunnyvale, California as Commander of a Field Training Squadron teaching satellite ephemeris control and orbital analysis for US military surveillance satellites launched into polar orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base. He was subsequently assigned to Vietnam as V Corp’s Communications Officer; followed by an assignment to Iran’s US Military Advisory Assistance Group (MAAG) at the U.S Embassy, providing military and technical advice to the Iranian Air Force under the auspices of the US Embassy in Teheran. He was Commander of a technical training squadron at Vahdati Air Base near the Iraqi border.

On return to the US, he attended a senior Communications Staff Officer Course at Keesler AFB, Biloxi, Mississippi, where he met and married his second wife Air Force Captain Joan Mary Costabile, Air Force Nurse Corps - also a student. The next assignment followed as Commander of a large radar squadron in Limestone, Maine where his wife Joan worked as an OR Nurse Captain at nearby Loring AFB. Joe was selected for Major Officer rank and attendance at Air Command and Staff College in Montgomery, Alabama where he wrote papers on Unattended Ground Sensors in Vietnam and Lighter-than-Air Cargo Carriers for the Air Force.

His next assignment was a four-year assignment to Germany as a Wing Communications Officer then to Headquarters Tactical Air Command at Langley AFB Virginia as a Command and Control Requirements Staff Officer, determining requirements for new Air Force tactical command and control systems. He moved to working interoperability in D.C. at the Pentagon for Air Force Tactical C3 Acquisitions. Retirement followed culminating an almost 30 year proud service career in the United States Air Force working assignments in the U.S and overseas, including Korea, Japan, England, Vietnam, Iran, Germany, Egypt, Kuwait and Turkey.

Joe started working in residential real estate and later commercial real estate. He was drawn back into military consulting giving classified lectures on Soviet and Chinese radar systems for ANSER Corporation in Washington D.C.

Joe joined Planning Research Corporation (PRC), a major defense contractor in New Jersey and Washington D.C as a Senior System Analyst working for 15 years on improvements in military systems and later civilian capabilities, ranging from US passport systems to welfare and food stamp systems to drug interdiction with the US Treasury Department in Miami, Florida and El Paso, Texas. He transitioned to Senior Department Manager at Fort Monmouth, NJ working with tri-service equipment - military hardware/aviation support gear across all branches of the military and systems interoperability.

Joe went into business for himself over the next 10 years opening a travel franchise of Uniglobe Travel. Four total agencies- three corporate and one leisure agency kept him busy. He retired completely in 1999 taking up golf. Joe and Joan traveled, cruised and toured over 40 countries. They moved to retirement communities in Virginia and then in Texas.

In 2018 Joe moved into Eagle’s Trace where he met his current wife Patricia Wilhite DeBell. They married in 2022 enjoying several years together.

Joe enjoyed sports including: tennis, table tennis, squash, golf, volleyball and bowling. He enjoyed being a competitive table tennis player going to various state and national level tournaments. He enjoyed biblical source research, DNA Genealogy, Physics, Math, Logical Analysis, Military History, Chess, Checkers and Bridge.

Through his career, he studied Electrical Engineering at Foothill University Palo Alto, CA 1965 and University of Southern California, obtaining degrees in Business Administration at Troy State University 1973, an M.B.A. at the University of Utah 1975 and post-graduate work in Strategic Business Analysis at UVA in Charlottesville, Virginia.

He was a Military Technical Instructor to USAF officers in radar systems, electronic warfare, B-52 systems and ground to air missile systems. A graduate of Air Force Command and Staff College, The Industrial College of the Armed Forces.

He was a lifelong member of American Mensa, the high IQ Association and enjoyed hosting Mensa discussion groups. He was also a Member of the US Air Traffic Control Association, The Association of Military Officers and The International Order of Owls.

Joseph will be forever loved, dearly missed and never forgotten. Always Loved, Always Loving.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Dementia Society www.dementiasociety.org or the Alzheimer’s Association www.alz.org

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, July 14, 2026 at St. Cecilia Catholic Church, 11720 Joan of Arc. The Rite of Committal will follow in Houston National Cemetery with US Air Force Military Honors.