Joseph Kowall

Joe Kowall was born in Chicago on August 1, 1926. He was the youngest of three children born to Joseph and Barbara. As a child, he enjoyed the things that most little boys liked--baseball, playing with friends and dealing with his two older sisters.

Soon after his 18th birthday, he enlisted in the Navy to serve his Country and he served it well. Stationed in the Pacific, he was a Radar man on a LST landing ship; he referred to it as a "Long Slow Target". He saw action in various locations including Japan, the Marshall Islands, Truk, and New Guinea.

Shortly after his discharge in 1946, he was accepted to Loyola University and obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Business in 1951. During that time, he met his soul mate, Marilyn Grady at a Church dance and they married on November 19, 1949. He was Marilyn's best friend and their love would last 61 years.

Joe and Marilyn didn't waste much time in starting a family. In 1951, Linda was born followed by Gary in 1953. Joe and Marilyn suffered two losses in subsequent years with the death of two boys, Gerard and Joseph, who died in infancy. However, they were greeted with the birth of a healthy son, Mark in 1961. Over the years they welcomed seven grandchildren who are their pride and joy, Michael and Brian (Linda & Scott's children), Allison, Dan and Joe (Gary and Gail's children), and Brian and Katie (Mark & Margie’s children).

Joe's early job with the Illinois Institute of Technology required a fair bit of travel, but he always kept his family as his top priority. In 1958, Joe and Marilyn decided to make the big move to California and Joe began his career at Hughes Aircraft as a Marketing Manager. He supervised numerous aerospace projects associated with NASA and missile defense. Initially the family lived in Woodland Hills, Tustin and then moved to Northridge in 1965. They subsequently settled in Thousand Oaks in 1985. Joe retired in 1988 and began a new career in real estate, along with Marilyn. He was the "numbers" man and she was great with clients.

Joe enjoyed many activities and loved vacation time with the family. In the early years, it was camping followed by more comfortable accommodations with their condo in Maui. He particularly like boating and fishing, initially with the old outboard boat and then with his brand-new "Gulfstream". Needless to say, there were multiple hilarious events which occurred with the "boat" over the years. With respect to fishing, we often kidded, that he did not leave his children a "fishing gene". Golf was always a love for Joe---while he could hit the ball a mile, he had a nasty "hook".

Joe had a deep conviction to his Catholic Faith; something that he took solace in during his later years as his health worsened. His (our Faith) leads us to believe that he is in a much happier place with God, a place where the "big ones" don't get away and the tee shots go straight and far.

Joe was deeply loved by his family and will be greatly missed!