Joe joined the Navy shortly after graduating high school. It was a source of great pride that he was able to serve a country he loved so much. He spoke of his service and the adventures he had with great fondness. In recent years, he sent out holiday cards with him alongside the naval battleship on which he served. After completing his naval service, he worked for the Triboro Bridge and Tunnel Authority for the bulk of his career.
A feisty, loyal, generous, and self-deprecating man, he enjoyed a good laugh, his morning coffee, seafood meals with a friend, driving his car around Astoria with his good friends Angie and Eli Cruz, New York City “pizza pie”, and anything to do with Marilyn Monroe, his celebrity crush. He was always up for a trip to one of the local seafood restaurants in City Island in the Bronx and was particularly partial to oysters on the half shell, shrimp scampi, linguine with red or white clam sauce, and crab legs. In his younger days, he loved to play dice and pool with his neighborhood buddies, in particular, his first cousins Joe and Ronny Como with whom he grew up and whom he considered his best friends. He was a devoted son to his mother Louise.
Joseph is survived by his two daughters Barbara Mello of Alpine, California and Carla Contino (son-in-law Martin) of Milford, Pennsylvania, grandchildren Matthew and Samantha, his sister, Marilyn Adams and her four sons, his nephews, James, Robert, Frank and Danny and his two nieces Jeni and Celeste Como and their families. Over the past several years, as his health began to decline, he was very fortunate to have two wonderful caregivers, Toni and Tammy, who went above and beyond to help him maintain a very good quality of life and were the best companions one could ever have.
Astoria Queens will be a little less colorful without him.
Services will be private.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18