by Charlie and Sharon ONeil
Sharon and I will be out of state on the day of Joe’s memorial, and we are very sorry to miss it.
The Koke house was always a welcoming place. Judy was everybody’s friend of course. Joe was somewhat harder to read, but in the end we knew his Grumpy Bear manner was not real, and he was a very kind person.
The obituary made us remember all the things he did for his children, and how many of his students we met when visiting his house. He did a lot of things quietly to help his kids and the community like lining out the soccer fields and coaching the hardest team to coach. He always found a way to enable even the worst players a way to contribute to the team.
I (Charlie)also happily remember the road trip he and I (and cousin Mark) took to the west coast one summer and how he loved Oregon and how he loved to drive (fast!). We visited Jak and Jacqueline and he dragged me down to the Oregon beach, talking about how beautiful it was. He laughed when I was surprised at how cold it was.
He was a wonderful man.