Joseph Louis Stark

1 He was the youngest child of Edward and Kathryn Stark.

2 He grew up in Calumet City, Illinois in a small house with his siblings

Patrick, Mary Kay my mother, Eddie, and Laverne aka Bites.

3 Joe and Bites were inseparable when they were young. Joe did not speak

much, so Bites did all the talking. They had many mischievous adventures

together. Here are some examples:

a They stole a chicken from a neighbor and cooked it whole. They were

sick for a week.

b They went into a garage that stored empty beer bottles for a tavern.

They drank the few drops of beer that were still in the empty beer

bottles. They both became drunk.

c They painted a neighbor's car with house paint.

d They locked a store owner in his store by locking the outside

padlock.

4 To control the boys movements, Kathryn the mother would place them

into a chicken pen.

5 As the boys became older and more difficult for Kathryn to control,

they were sent to a prep school in Missouri run by the Servants of

Mary. While here, Joe took up boxing.

6 Joe was a tall and big man in his teens. While doing some work, Joe

injured his back. From then on, Joe always had back problems.

7 After leaving prep school, Joe joined the Brotherhood of the Order of

Society of Mary at Marynook in Galesville, Wisconsin. In 1954, Joe

took his perpetual vows.

8 For over 25 years, Joe was with the Brotherhood primarily as a cook

and maintenance worker. He was torn apart on the day that he had to

sign the demolish order for his parsonage in Missouri.

9 Joe left the order, and took a job as a maintenance worker at Saint

Mary's University. While there, Joe found his true love - Lucile.

For many years they had a warm and loving relationship until

Lucile passed away.

10 In Joe's later years, my mother would go down to San Antonio to

assist Joe when he would be recovering from surgery. My mother would

mention how Joe loved his cat and loved to watch the Weather Channel.

11 Eventually, Joe's abilities deteriorated to the point where he could no

longer take care of himself. Being a practical person and not wanting

to be a burden to family and friends, he decided to move into a nursing

home. My wife and I had a chance to visit him in July of 2004 and meet

Dee Bennett. Uncle Joe always said he considered Dee to be his daughter.

Though Joe was in a nursing home, he always kept himself busy and his

spirits up by making collages. He would give his collages away or have

them displayed in the hallway. By doing this, Joe was being a good

Christian by brighten the lives of other people. Some people would

give up on life once they moved into a nursing home, but not Joe. He

was a devout Catholic. And through his devolution, he found the

strength to make every day the best day it could be.

12 Let me summarize the characteristics of the man I called uncle Joe:

He was tall, strong, happy, practical, last to get angry and first to

forgive, a devout Catholic, creative and artistic, and a person who

loved other people.

May you rest in peace, uncle Joe.