In recent years I had the pleasure of meeting Joe several times down here in Naples. Both of us being "auditorily challenged", we could yell at each other and have everything be normal.
It was a real treat for me to have Joe and Tony over to my house one evening for a feast of deep fat fried quail that Tony took here in Florida. Extreme care was taken in the cleaning of the birds and frying them to just the perfect degree of doneness with just a dusting of seasoned corn meal.
I think Joe really liked the quail and he mentioned several times how good they were as he methodically cleaned them to the bone, one after another. They were washed down by the one beer he slowly drank during the evening.
Perhaps the best part of the evening was listening to Joe tell his stories about working at American Optical and the stories about he and Tony working the family farm, raising dairy cattle, and living during those tough times in rural Connecticut.
Joe was very proud of his family. I am so glad I had a chance to spend a little time with him.
