Joseph John Vitale I, born on November 13, 1950, in New York City, left this plane on July 26, 2021, in Brooksville, Florida after battling cancer. He was 70 years old. Joe was born in Brooklyn, New York and was a long-time resident of Staten Island, New York before moving to Spring Hill, Florida in 2004. He was a veteran of the United States Navy, having served from 1976 to 1980, and earned the rank of Second Class Petty Officer on the U. S. S. King. He was awarded the National Defense Service Metal as well as becoming an Expert Marksman. After his service, he was a tradesman who worked on plumbing systems in Manhattan, and had many memorable stories about meeting Broadway celebrities, frequently saying that Patti LuPone was a personal favorite. He transitioned into working with inpatient psychiatric patients as a mental health technician and a certified phlebotomist at the former St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Staten Island, New York, as well as for BayCare in Brooksville, Florida before retirement.
Joe loved history, and he was often watching documentaries on military history, particularly on the Civil War. His superpower was making you laugh, usually with some of the corniest dad jokes known to man. He loved his coffee, listening to the Blues, bladed weaponry, Janis Joplin, and a good bourbon. Or a bad bourbon. He loved them all, without judgement. He never felt that the belly bag went out of style, and rocked them for literal decades, well before Dwayne Johnson. He was an avid animal lover, even adopting a new kitten just a few weeks prior to his death. Diana the Kitty as well as the rest of his menagerie brought him great comfort in his final days. Nothing, however, was more important than the love of his family, especially his grandchildren.
He is survived by his wife, Kathleen, his four children: Radford West (Toni), Jessica Vitale – Fay (Michael), Joseph J. Vitale II (Jennifer), and Megan Chiarella (Daniel), and his ten grandchildren: Keiara Michelle, Kristin, Courtney, Cassidy, Ava, Nicholas, Drake, Emma, Luke, and Apollonia, who he wanted so much to meet before her arrival this November. He is also survived by his sister, Phyllis O’Neill, his brother, Thomas Vitale, and his other half, his beloved cousin Peter Cessario, as well as nieces, nephews, and cousins spread across the country.
His final wishes were not of a room full of crying eyes, but a party where the Blues plays and the drinks flow while we toast his memory and laugh at his antics. He will be interred at Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Florida with full military honors. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his memory to Hernando County Animal Services in Brooksville, Florida.
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