Joe A. Joseph Jr.

Joseph Anthony Joseph, Jr., came into this world on June 14, 1928, the last of nine children of his Lebanese immigrant parents, Joe and Sophie Joseph. He was also the last to leave, on February 17, 2018. Born and raised in Austin, he was a walking tour guide of old Austin businesses and enjoyed recounting his youth and the times he spent playing, working and going to school. He was a people person and could spend hours talking to just about anyone, often trying to figure out who they might know in common.

Always a hard worker, his earliest job was delivering donuts on his bicycle to downtown restaurants. He worked for his older brother in the bakery, and again years later at the Capitol Tavern on Congress Avenue. He served in the Army and recollected the discomfort of the cruises crossing the Atlantic.

Although Joe was a linotype operator for many years at the University of Texas Printing Division, he eventually became a real estate broker and enjoyed many successful years in the business. He brokered land as well as houses, but what was the most rewarding to him of all his work was helping lower income people find and purchase their first home.

He moved his family to a farm outside Austin for a few years and began to love the country life. He made many friends in the Manor, Pflugerville and New Sweden areas, and reminisced about the hard work as well as the fun he had with his kids there. He was always learning something new and growing from the experience.

Joe is survived by his wife Janett G. Joseph, his children, Lazan Pargaman and Joey Joseph, and his grandchildren, Elizabeth and Kate Pargaman and Sofia Joseph. He is predeceased by his daughter, Camila Joseph. He and Janett enjoyed eating out and making friends. He loved to greet people, and joke and tease, and he ended nearly every encounter with a happy “Goodbye” and a wish for them to “have fun.”

A graveside service will take place Friday, February 23rd at 11:00 am at Mt. Calvary Cemetery, IH 35 N between Manor Rd. and Dean Keaton Blvd. A funeral service will take place at Kingdom Hall, 9010 Capitol Drive, Austin, Texas, 78753 on Saturday, February 24th, at 11:00 am.