Joseph Edward Padgett Jr.

Joseph E. Padgett, Jr., age 91, passed away on Wednesday, December 13. Joe was born on October 21, 1926 in Dayton, Kentucky. He served in the Navy at the end of World War II until being discharged and returning to Johns Hopkins to complete his mechanical engineering degree, which he followed with a master’s degree in engineering at CalTech. He went to work for Westinghouse in Pennsylvania designing jet engines, and while there, met Teel Dunn of Swarthmore. They were married in 1953. After Westinghouse, Joe held a number of jobs in different parts of the country before joining the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a Director, where he and his organization were heavily involved in development of the Clean Air Act. During 1985, Joe served as President of the Air Pollution Control Association (APCA), an organization with participation from the government, academia, and industry. He retired from EPA in 1995 at age 68, and became involved in the National Association of Retired Federal Employees (NARFE), serving two terms as President of the Raleigh chapter. He also continued playing racquetball, took up tennis and renewed his interest in ping-pong.

Joe is survived by his three children Jay, David, and Judy, and seven grandchildren.

The family will receive friends at Springmoor for a celebration of his life at 2 pm on December 29, 2017. The family requests that any gifts be sent to the Springmoor Endowment Fund, 1500 Sawmill Road, Raleigh, NC, 27615.