He is survived by his daughters and son-in-laws, Karen and Gordon Grona of Fredericksburg; Sharon and Don Binford of Cedar Park; and Jeanne and Bill Vuono of Lewisville; grandchildren, Kayla and Eddie Kloesel; Shane Grona; Ashlee and Jack Drake; Trey and Ashley Binford, and Caleb Vuono; step-grandchildren Tony Vuono and Sara Griffin; and great grandchildren, Madison, Mollie and Joey Kloesel; Abram, Ezra, Jubilee and Eli Drake; and Emma, Dori and Grace Binford.
Also, brother and sisters-in-law, Rick and Anita Kozusko; Elizabeth and Joseph Bajusik; Gladys Kozusko; and Ann McDonald; and numerous nieces and nephews in Pennsylvania and North Carolina.
He was preceded in death by his loving wife, Virginia (Ginger) Kozusko; parents, Michael and Mary Helen Kozusko; brothers, Stephen, John, Michael, Paul; sisters, Ann and Mary Helen (Dolly).
Joseph graduated from Hurst High School in Norvelt, Pa. where he was known as the “Charles Atlas” of the school for his athletic abilities. He attended St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa. on a football scholarship for two seasons. He joined the United States Air Force in 1953 and served until August of 1982. He married Virginia McDonald on August 18, 1956 at Holy Name Catholic Church in Topeka, KS.
He began his Air Force career at Sampson AFB in New York for basic training, then was assigned to Forbes AFB in Kansas where he met his future wife after a squad baseball game. During the Korean War he was sent to Formosa and Okinawa, Japan. His next assignment was at the Air Defense Headquarters at Ent AFB in Colorado Springs, Colorado. After a short stint back in Pennsylvania he was called to serve a year on Resolution Island in Labrador in 1958. In 1959 he was assigned to Richards-Gebaur AFB in Kansas City, Missouri for two years. Now married with two daughters, they moved to Los Angeles, California in 1961 where he worked at the Strategic Defense Center and their third daughter was born.
After attending the ATC Recruiting school in 1964 he began his Recruiting Service tenure in 1964 in Pennsylvania. He served at Tan Son Nhut Airbase in Vietnam in 1970. Following that he returned as a recruiter in Pittsburgh, before moving to the ATC Recruiting Service at Randolph AFB in San Antonio in 1972 where he completed his 30 year career.
He was awarded the Bronze Star in 1972 and earned numerous Air Force medals and commendations including the Meritorious Service Medal, AF Organizational Excellence award, AF Good Conduct award, Outstanding Unit award; Vietnam Service and Campaign medals, Vietnam Gallantry Cross, Professional Military Education award, Army Good Conduct award, AF Longevity Service award and National Defense Service medal as well as numerous other commendations.
After retiring from the Air Force, “Joe K”, as he was commonly known, worked as Vice President of Marketing for the AMPAC Insurance Company, was a statistician for the San Antonio Spurs, was an organizer of the Texas Open and worked at the Retama Race Track. He loved sports, especially playing baseball and golf, but enjoyed watching baseball, football, golf and basketball. But, no matter that he called Texas home now, he made sure everyone knew that the Pittsburgh Pirates and Steelers were “his” teams.
Joe K had several other honorary titles that were special to him as he was a sustaining member of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York; a Kentucky Colonel; a Tennessee Squire; a Knight with the NCOA, and a member of the Knights of Columbus at Randolph AFB.
Visitation will be held on Wednesday, April 11 from 5 p.m.-8 p.m. with the Rosary recited at 7 p.m. at Colonial Funeral Home in Universal City. A funeral mass will be held on Thursday, April 12 at noon in the Colonial Funeral Home Chapel. Interment with full military honors will follow at the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.
Please sign the guestbook at www.colonialuniversal.com.
