Joseph Harry Hartigan

Dr. Joseph Harry Hartigan, 94, passed peacefully on March 9, 2023 in Jacksonville, Florida, surrounded by his loving wife and children. Born in 1928 in Mount Pleasant, PA, to Harry L. and Gertrude Schindle Hartigan. Joe was the fourth child of the Hartigan clan. Two of his sisters, Marjorie, 98, and Helen, 100, survive him. His sister Betty, his brother Bill and his daughter Maureen preceded him in death. Joe was a basketball star at Ramsey High School. His childhood in Mount Pleasant was filled with adventure: Sledding down Washington Street, camping trips and hunting with his dad. Once when he was crossing a field, some stray buckshot lodged in his neck and his dad had to pry it out with his pen knife. His first job was selling the Saturday Evening Post before he was 10 years old. After that, he was never without a job, sometimes two. He worked at the A&P Grocery Store, at the Smith Glass Factory, as an upholsterer, at the US Post Office, and finally as a dentist from 1958 until retirement in 1995 when he sold his practice in Coral Gables.

To afford college, Joe joined the Army Air Corp in 1946. He served in Berlin, Germany during the Berlin Airlift as a radar technician. He studied science at the University of Miami attending there on the GI Bill. There he met and fell in love with Suzanne Marie LeRoux, his beloved wife of 67 years. They married at Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Miami on September 3rd 1955. From 1954 to 1958 he attended the University of Pittsburgh College of Dentistry, all the while working a 40 hour work week on the night shift at the US Post office to support Suzanne and his first two children, Mary and Bill.

Joe remained a small town boy at heart and loved his occasional visits back to Mount P. In 2012 he visited with his son Michael, staying with his childhood friend and accomplice Glenn Cooper. Glenn showed Michael the very floor where he and Joe would lay as three year old’s coloring, stretched out on their bellies. Glenn and Joe visited their old haunts remembering places where they would get “wormy” candy on the cheap and visited Ramsey High School and recalled walking it’s halls. Stopping by the American Legion, Glenn and Joe toasted their buddies from WWII with a frosty mug of beer. Before leaving Joe made the short trip up the hill to the cemetery and paid his respects to his aunts, uncles and other Hartigans laid to rest there, overlooking his beloved hometown.

Joe loved to bowl and taught all his kids the art. He loved to fish and would never pass up an invitation whether it be by boat, bridge or jetty. He did crosswords in pen. He was an avid golfer and played every chance he got. One time when retrieving a errant ball from a bush, Joe was bitten by a pygmy rattlesnake. Not sure what bit him he continued to play but had to stop as his hand began to turn black and become numb. This did not stop him from asking for a rain check and you can bet he used it later.

He was a firm believer in DIY and passed this on to his children. Dubbed "The Yardigans" by their friends, Joe and his sons kept their yard in tip top shape. He also would wallpaper, paint, spackle, and chip whenever Sue was in that mood. And the bookcases astride the piano he built and are used daily to stuff knickknacks of assorted size and function.

Joe was a long time member of Assumption Church where he sang in the choir. He had a wonderful voice and sang all of his children, grand children and great children to sleep over the years. He was in several variety shows at the Knights of Columbus singing his favorites like "I Will Take You Home Kathleen" or "Oh, Danny Boy". With his amazing memory, Pop could sing along with his favorite crooners Nat King Cole, Dean Martin, and their contemporaries and not miss a word.

More than anything else Joe loved Sue and she loved him dearly. He had a difficult time being away from her for any time at all. Even when at home Joe would seek out Sue to be sure she was close and to share something he had read or heard on the TV. Except for early in their marriage, and brief times when Sue would be helping with newborn babies, Joe and Sue were seldom apart. And it was not uncommon for Joe to find Sue bent to a task and give her a smooch and a pat. While in dental school Joe made Sue a gold heart and she wore it always, with his name against her heart.

Pop had a beautiful voice, sharp wit, a lead foot and near photographic memory. He will be greatly missed by his wife Suzanne, his children Mary(Alan) , William(Zamza), Michael(Beth), and Joseph(Sunny), his 12 grandchildren and 9 great grandchildren. We love you Pop.

In lieu of flowers please send donations to: https://whcjax.com/donate/