Joseph Martin Fogarty

Our beloved Joe went home with the Lord Sunday, December 20th at 1:30 in the afternoon after a two month battle from complications of treatment for Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS). Joe never let the knowledge of this disease define him. He lived; he loved; he laughed. He is preceded in death by his father, John Joseph Fogarty; his sister, Mary Elisabeth Fogarty and his niece, Emily Jane Szafarz. Joe is survived by his wife of 22 years, Neala Shirley Fogarty; his daughter, Bronwyn Elizabeth; his mother Catherine Ann Fogarty; his siblings James Patrick Fogarty, MD and wife Susan Fogarty; Jeremiah John Fogarty and wife Rosalina Fogarty; Jane Marie Falk; Michael Joseph Fogarty and wife Sally Fogarty; and John Joseph Fogarty and wife Beth Fogarty. He is also survived by fifteen nieces and nephews, and thirteen great nieces and nephews whom he loved very much.

Joe had many titles throughout his 57 years in this life. He was affectionately known as a son, brother, uncle, friend, husband, father, “Uncle Joe”, “Figs” and “St. Joe”. To us, he was an amazing light in the darkness. He never had an unkind word toward anyone or anything. To know him was to be invited as “family”. Everyone knew what that meant including those that worked with him either at Grocers Supply, or one of the many vendors he developed relationships with over the years. Joe began working at Grocers Supply straight out of college after graduating from the University of Houston with degrees in both MIS and Marketing. He began in the warehouse and continued working his way up to directorship in the company. He spent 35 plus years with Grocers including the last six after it became C &S Wholesale.

Joe was very active in life. He loved to play softball, coach parish basketball, attend his beloved UH football games, and after his daughter was born, became a patron of the arts. To his softball buddies, he was known as “Figs” or the “Tin Man” which was apparent as he would run the bases. To his parish basketball girl’s teams, he was affectionately known as “Coach” or, just plain “Uncle Joe”. His lesson when coaching was, “it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, only matters if you had fun playing.”

Joe loved traveling with his family. He often said he couldn’t make up his mind where he liked to be better: the beach or the mountains of Colorado. He enjoyed our Thanksgiving trips on the 30A in the panhandle of Florida and our Spring Break trips to Colorado. However, his greatest joy was his daughter Bronwyn. He always said he stood in awe of her and everything she did and accomplished. It was because of her, he became a patron of the arts and looked forward to every theatrical, musical, and band performance she was in. Friday night lights became our date night because Bronwyn played in the band. Bronwyn was his greatest joy and he felt his greatest accomplishment.

To say Joe will be missed is an understatement. We can only hope that we can carry ourselves as he did; with love and honor of all of humanity.

Visitation/Rosary will be at Earthman Funeral Home in Bellaire, 4525 Bissonnet Monday evening December 28th from 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm, Rosary at 7:30 pm. A Celebration of Life will be held Tuesday morning at 10:00 am at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, 6800 Buffalo Speedway. Interment immediately following at Memorial Oaks Cemetery Reflection Lake Estates, 13001 Katy Freeway. Memorial donations may be made to Houston Christian High School at houstonchristian.org/giving and fill out the “In Memorial” section.