Joseph George Halusky

He was born Sept. 7, 1943 in Youngstown, Pennsylvania, son of the late Joseph Thomas and Lenora Elizabeth (Stumpf) Halusky. He was a graduate of Latrobe High School, Class of 1961. Joe was in the U.S. Army ROTC throughout his time at Ohio State University and graduated in 1966 with a bachelor’s degree in zoology and wildlife management. Following service in the U.S. Army at Fort Benning, Georgia, he attended Florida State University to earn his master’s degree in marine biology.

Joe spent most of his 30-year career based at Marineland, Florida working for the University of Florida’s Sea Grant Extension Program as an educator about marine life and ecosystems in Northeast Florida. During his tenure, he contributed to or authored dozens of marine research and education publications, now contained within the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) repository library. In 2000, he was honored with the national William Q. Wick Visionary Career Leadership Award, which recognizes outstanding individuals for their vision and leadership which they dedicated to Sea Grant and Marine Extension efforts. Also, his work toward marine ecology education was recognized with an artificial reef being named after him – Joe Halusky Reef – located off the coast of Flagler County, Florida.

Joe enjoyed boating, and was an avid snorkeler and SCUBA diver. In fact, he received his SCUBA certification in the mid-1960s while in Ohio, served as an open-water SCUBA instructor from the 1970s-1990s, and was an active recreational diver well into the 2010s. As his passion was the environment and humans’ relationship with it, he founded the Earth Kinship Conference in Northeast Florida, which was active between 1988-2005, with the mission of understanding the roots and evolution of human attitudes that affect the earth’s ecosystems. He also volunteered at environmental conferences and for speaking engagements, and served on the Board of Directors of the Stetson Kennedy Foundation.

Upon retirement, he fulfilled his lifelong dream of living and traveling on a sailboat for many years as first mate to his wife, the Captain. Then, in later years, he explored North America in their RV often taking their grandsons along on many outdoor adventures.

He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Marilyn J. (McLure) Halusky of Jacksonville; his son, David “AyoLane” Halusky of Elkton; and his daughter, Donia (Halusky) Crime, her husband William Crime, and their two sons, McLure and Wray Crime, also of Jacksonville.

A celebration of his life will be announced and held at a later date. The family requests that memorial contributions be made to further Joe’s work and passions by donating to either The Stetson Kennedy Foundation or the Florida Sea Grant Extension Fund.