Joseph Delsante

Joseph was born on Sept. 18, 1925, at 206 East 6th Street in Manhattan to Dominick and Margaret (Marino) Delsante. He was predeceased by his older brother, Vito (Dave) and younger brother, Edward and younger sister, Marie. Joe grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

When Joe was 16 years old he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps, spending time in Port Byron in upstate New York working with the Forestry Department. He then joined the Coast Guard when he was 17 years old, serving during World War II. He was on LCI 325 at Omaha Beach during the D-Day invasion and received the America Area Medal, Victory Medal and the European African Middle Eastern Area Medal.

Joseph married Marie DeGaetano on Feb. 16, 1952, and joined the New York City Police Department in October 1952. He worked at the 70th precinct in Brooklyn and then Police Headquarters, retiring in 1976. Joseph went on to work as a bartender and a security guard for UPS.

Joseph is survived by his wife of 65 years, Marie, and was the proud father of five children: Dominick, a retired NYC School teacher, Valarie, a NYC special education teacher, Christopher, a retired NYPD lieutenant, Joseph, a territory sales manager for Philip Morris and Lisa, a senior vice president and general counsel at a solar energy company and father-in-law to Dominick's wife Pamela (Bessero), Christopher's wife, Vilma (Gomez), Joseph's wife, Katrina (Tarasevich) and Lisa's husband, Joel Robbins. In addition, Joseph had nine grandchildren, Joseph (NYPD sergeant), Lia, Juliana, Natalya, Zach, Edward, and Dylan Delsante and Lauren and Christopher Weber.

Joseph enjoyed big band-era music, was a great story-teller and was known for his wry and wonderful sense of humor. Nicknamed Arcadia Joe, he enjoyed traveling, playing cards and the ponies and his New York sports teams. He loved and was loved by his family and friends.

Services are being handled by Casey Funeral Home. Visitation is Thursday and Friday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m with funeral at 10 a.m. on Saturday at St. Ann's Church. Interment is Cemetery of the Resurrection.