Joseph Gibbs, Jr.

A Memorial Visitation is now scheduled for Sunday, July 26, 2020 from 2:00 to 6:00 pm with a 5:30 pm Memorial Service.

Joseph Edward Gibbs, Jr., passed Chairman of St Josephs Hospital and Medical Center Board of Directors was called to his eternal rest by his Lord Jesus on Friday, April 3, 2020.

He was born in Paterson to Joseph and Lillian Gibbs and was a resident of Wayne Township for over fifty years.  Mr. Gibbs graduated from Seton Hall University.  He was a US Army Veteran having served in Germany.   He was employed for over forty years with New Jersey Bell Telephone Company, now Verizon, as Director of Community and Public Relations.

In the 1950’s, Joe and Rose Marie met at a wedding.  They hit it off and were soon married on December 28, 1957.  After a honeymoon to Colonial Williamsburg, which included a heavy snow storm, they settled in Wayne.  Throughout the years, Rose Marie and Joe enjoyed many wonderful vacations and cruises, touring Europe, Alaska, the Caribbean, the Panama Canal, and many trips with Rotary International.  They celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary with a trip to Hawaii, and marked sixty-two years of marriage this past December.  Rose Marie  and Joe were blessed with a summer home at Long Beach Island, NJ, where they loved to spend the summers with all of their grandchildren.  Summertime trips to the pool at the Haven Beach Yacht Club is where they made many lasting memories at the shore.  The family will cherish those memories for many years to come.

Joe served as a trustee and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Saint Joseph’s Medical Center and served on its Foundation Board for more than twenty years. He was the Past President of the Greater Paterson Chamber of Commerce, North Jersey Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Rutherford Chamber of Commerce.  Joe was very active in Rotary International, was a member of the Nutley Club, Phillipsburg Club, previously served as President of the Rutherford Rotary Club, and was a member of the Wayne Rotary Club. He served as District Governor of Rotary International District 7490 and was a recipient of the Paul Harris Fellow Award - the highest honor in Rotary. He was also awarded the Walter D. Head Award during his over fifty years of Rotary service to others.

He was a lifetime member of the telephone Pioneers, served as Director of the Clifton Boys and Girls Club, Director of the Passaic County Chapter of the American Red Cross.  He was a Past Trustee of the Wayne Foundation for the Handicapped, was a recipient of the Paterson Boys and Girls Club Man of the Year award and Boys Scouts Explorer Award.  He served as Past President of the Haven Beach Yacht Club on Long Beach Island where he had a summer home for many years.  At LBI he enjoyed boating and fishing with his family and treasured those days-especially those with his five grandchildren. Joe, always volunteered his time as it wasn’t in his nature to so no to any worthy cause.

In retirement he served the Township of Wayne, as Director of the Wayne Township Industrial and Economic Development Commission for twelve years. He was a parishioner of Holy Cross R.C. Church of Wayne, and served as a member of its Finance Committee for over twenty-five years as well as serving as an usher at the 10 o’clock Mass for over fifty years.

Also during retirement Joe and Rose Marie traveled extensively on cruises to many island in the Caribbean and cruises to Bermuda, Alaska, through the Panama Canal, and Hawaii. They also had European adventures to Italy, Austria, Germany, France, Spain, Ireland, and Mexico.

Joe was the devoted husband of sixty-two years to the late Rose Marie Gibbs (d. March 14, 2020); he was the loving father Rosemarie Mastroieni and her husband Mark of Wayne; cherished grandfather of five grandchildren; Kathleen Horvath and her husband Scott of Windsor, Colorado, Amy Woods and her husband Michael of Kinnelon, Erin Dubow and her husband Justin of Wayne, Dr. Rebecca Mastroieni of Glen Rock, and Mark Mastroieni of Wayne, and five great-grandchildren; Leah Horvath, Ian Horvath, Olivia Dubow, Ryan Dubow, and Alexandra Woods; he was also the loved brother of the late Eileen Pascrell (d. May of 2019).

In lieu of flowers memorial donations in Joe’s honor to St. Judes Children’s Research Hospital or the Rotary Foundation would be greatly appreciated.