Joseph A. Pagano, age 86, of Wayne, passed away peacefully on Sunday, May 13, 2018.

Joe was born and raised in Paterson where he graduated from Central High School in 1949.

When Joe was just a young lad, he lived in a neighborhood in Paterson with lots of kids his age. He would frequently go to visit his cousin who was one of those neighborhood kids. Across the street from his cousin lived a young girl named Ann Di Pasquale. The three of them, Joe, his cousin, and Ann, along with a bunch of other friends, would often play ball, ride bikes, and just spend time together near Ann’s house. Ann’s mom got to know these kids and would often look out the window and watch them play. She really took a liking to little Joseph Pagano. As the kids grew into their teens, Ann got a job working at the lunch counter at Woolworth’s department store. Joe started to take a different kind of liking to his friend Ann, and oftentimes he’d go visit her at work. He’d come in and say something to the effect of “How about a soda Ann?” She’d reply with “Do you have any money to pay for the soda? No money, no Coke.” On Friday and Saturday nights when Ann was about to get out of work, Joe would often show up to walk her home or they would go catch a movie. Then one summer, Joe’s grandma bought him a car for $300 and Joe and Ann and their friends started going to Paramus Beach. That was usually on a Sunday and after a day in the sun, Joe and Ann would come home, get a shower and they’d be off to the movies again. Eventually Joe got a motorcycle and one day, out of the blue, he said to Ann, “I think I’ll sell this motorcycle and we can get married.” A little surprised, Ann replied, “How do you know I want to marry you?” Joe answered by exclaiming, “I figured you might consider it since you seem to like to hang out with me.” Well, they did marry, on Sunday, June 8, 1952 at St. Anthony’s Church on Beach Street in Paterson. After a reception at the Dover Club on 20th Ave. and State Street, they got in their car and drove to Florida for their honeymoon. This coming June, they would have been married for 66 years and blessed years they were!

Five months after the wedding, Joe was drafted into the U.S. Army and sent directly to Korea where he served in a medical company, attending to wounded comrades. Though he had absolutely no experience and would probably burn water, he eventually became an Army cook and a baker. He learned to make pizza with the ingredients that Ann would send him from America. His pizza was a big hit with the medical staff. Joe served his country until 1952 when he was honorably discharged and returned to civilian life, reunited with his young bride. Joe was glad to serve and was the proud recipient of the Korean Service Medal, Bronze Service Star, Combat Infantry Badge, the United Nations Service Medal, and the National Defense Service Medal.

Joe and Ann first lived together in an apartment in Paterson on Trenton Ave. As a young man, before going to Korea, Joe worked for his uncle who had a construction business. Joe enjoyed the work so, when he came home from Korea, he decided to start his own construction business. He called it Joson Construction, Inc. and one of his first jobs was building a beautiful home for him and Ann on Jackson Avenue in Wayne. That’s pretty-much the only residential construction job he ever did, choosing instead to concentrate on commercial work because, as Joe would say, “In commercial work, I don’t have to deal with women and all of their questions and changing their minds all the time.” He really enjoyed his career in construction and he made a lot of friends along the way, but at age 65, he called it quits and sold the business. Never one to sit still for very long though, Joe continued working part-time for Hawthorne Chevy and Wayne Mazda.

Joe was always a fun guy to be with. For many years he bowled in two leagues at T-Bowl in Wayne – the Friday night men’s league and the Sunday mixed league where he and his teammates all wore the team-sponsored shirt – Joson Construction. He was a colorful guy whose car of choice was always a Cadillac. He also loved to get out on Lake Hopatcong with Ann and friends in his boat. Throughout the years, he and Ann owned three boats. Starting off with an old used Chris Craft, their third one was their first new one and they named her “Fancy Free”. Getting out on the lake in that boat was so important to Joe that, if invited to a wedding in the summer, he always respectfully declined choosing instead to send regrets and a gift. Joe got a real kick out of betting on the horses too. Favorite race tracks included the Meadowlands, Monmouth Park and the Delaware Park and Casino and Joe always put a lot of effort into studying the handicaps in the daily newspaper. His efforts paid off as he was pretty good at picking out the fastest horses. It was all in good fun and the winnings were often spent on dinner for him and Ann and the many friends that often joined them for a day or night of betting. An astute businessman, Joe also loved to follow the stock market and, a lot like betting on the horses, his knack for picking a winning stock was partly due to luck and partly because of the time he invested to study the market.

At one point in his life, a friend asked Joe if he’d like to join the Wayne Township Lions Club. It turned out to be one of the greatest propositions Joe ever accepted. He loved all facets of being a member, from raising money for various needs, especially for the blind, to arranging trips to Pegasus at the Meadowlands, to just making lots of friends and enjoying their company. It’s not surprising that Joe loved the camaraderie! He was extremely sociable. His wife Ann would laugh recalling that, early in their marriage while living on Trenton Ave. in Paterson, she’d send him for a gallon of milk at the corner store and, an hour later, he’d still not be home because of all the people he stopped to talk to along the way. Why, if he met a dog, he’d stop to talk to it. Joe was always that way, even from as young as twelve years of age. He was the biggest story teller ever and if a joke he was telling wasn’t funny, it was funny because of the way Joe would tell it. Even when Joe moved to the Veterans home in Lyons in 2016, after an injury due to a fall, He quickly became friends with all the workers at the home.

Joe is survived by his beloved wife Ann to whom he was married for almost 66 years; two sisters: Linda Migliadora of Wayne, and Judy Regina and husband Joseph of Lincoln Park; his nephew Wayne Ray of Pequannock; great-nephews: Albert Aboyoun, III and Joseph Aboyoun – both of Paterson, and Benny and Nicholas Di Pasquale, both of North Haledon; and his sister-in-law Gloria Schleser of Butler. He was predeceased by two nephews and one niece: Harold and Benny Di Pasquale, and Marilyn Aboyoun

In lieu of flowers, those planning an expression of sympathy in Joseph’s name are asked to consider Wayne Township Lions Club, 782 Valley Road, Wayne, NJ 07470 or VA New Jersey Health Care System, Attention Donation Office, 151 Knollcroft Road, Lyons NJ 07939.