Joe, Joey, JoeJoe ... my little brother was a character.
While growing up in Philadelphia, Joe easily made many friends. He fit into any crowd, joking and talking about many topics. Our mother always said he was like a chameleon. Joe could adjust himself and be comfortable in any situation. Early on he was a shy little boy until puberty and then all hell broke lose.
He graduated from St. Bartholomew’s Catholic Elementary School in 1971 and Northeast Catholic High School for Boys in 1975. I was unaware that he played football in high school but there is a photo in this website with Joe wearing his football jersey while washing dishes. Joe was not fond of doing the dishes and delayed dinner clearance as long as possible. Often, he tried to negotiate why he shouldn't have to wash or dry dishes. Mom got a stand alone dishwasher after Joe and I moved out on our own.
Joe married in his early 20’s and had a daughter that he always bragged about. A grown woman now, Joe still referred to his daughter as his “sweetie” and that she would always be his little girl. He was very proud of her determination and successes both personally and professionally.
Joe belonged to and was a proud, card carrying VFW member. He loved his country and the American Flag. Joe joined the U.S. Army in the late 1970’s and achieved the rank of Sergeant. While his brother (Vietnam) and father (WWII) joined the Navy, Joe selected the U.S. Army. Recently, Joe admitted to me that he didn’t know how to swim; the U.S. Army was an easy choice. A highlight of his military life, Joe served with his older brother in the U.S. Army Reserve at Ft. Meade, MD in the 1980s.
Initially stationed in Georgia, Joe’s Army career also took him to Korea and California. He was trained to repair and test sensitive technology equipment and at the Army’s discretion, his overseas tour of duty was extended. Before Joe’s Army tour of duty ended, he trained and qualified for a CDL license.
After the Army, Joe drove buses for Greyhound in California and eventually began driving special tour buses. Joe’s friendliness made him a favorite with his customers. Later in his career, Joe drove 18-wheeled vehicles for Schneider National trucking company, and was promoted to recruiter and trainer. Eventually, Joe switched careers and became a manager in the field of Logistics working in Michigan, West Virginia and New Jersey. From New Jersey, Joe relocated to Cumberland, MD, where he lived until July 2020.
Joe was a resident of Cumberland, Maryland for many years. He loved the mountains and clean air, and a sense of family and simple life. While he lived in Baltimore Ravens territory, he was a faithful Eagles fan. He enjoyed living in Cumberland, Maryland for a number of reasons, especially the respect residents had for veterans. Some of his favorite past times were visiting the Fruit Bowl, one of the largest fruit and candy stores in the State of Maryland; antiquing (touching everything in the store); lunch at Kline’s Restaurant for homemade open faced, hot turkey sandwich with gravy and mashed potatoes or a turkey club sandwich and coffee, of course. The restaurant sat next to the CSX transportation line and sometimes during lunch, a 100-car train would pass by hauling coal and other commodities. Joe always had a story or two about the train system in Cumberland.
Joe liked to tinker, repair and build things. His latest build was a computer with fancy lighting and a water cooled core. He was the “go to” person for anything technology-related. He kept himself educated and updated, reading everything he could about new technology, and knew all the websites with the best pricing. Even while in the hospital, he loaded his new laptop with necessary software and enough gigabytes to play a game or two. He was a gamer. He often wondered if the kids he played against knew he was an “old geezer.” That made him chuckle.
Joe loved Philadelphia soft pretzels (sold at Wawa’s in Maryland) and Tastykakes, which he had special ordered and delivered to his home. When visiting Joe in Cumberland, I would bring goodies that always included Philadelphia soft pretzels; iced raisin bread and apple pie from the bakery in Hancock, MD. Joe enjoyed eating his Tastykakes at night while watching TV, which he continued to do in the hospital with care packages from his daughter and sister.
He loved Christmas. Joe enjoyed the good meals and conversations with immediate and extended family during the holidays. Joe enjoyed decorating for the holidays and decorated our tree and fireplace mantel last year with beautiful greens, ribbon and trinkets.
In recent years, Joe lived a low key life with his little dog, Lilly. Walking Lilly in his Cumberland neighborhood introduced Joe to neighbors, delivery personnel and the postman. Joe fed and housed the neighborhood cats on the back porch of his rental home; trying numerous times to convince me to go home with “gray” or “orange” kitty.
Son, father, brother, uncle, husband, family and friend. We miss you, Joe. May God bless you and see you over the Rainbow. Night. Night Joe.
Mary, your "bestest" sister.
Remembering Joe Mowrey
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