Joseph was captured on camera by his aunt on Sept. 29, 2007 as he jumped onto a float at Avon Grove’s homecoming. After Joseph passed away on October 2, 2007, his parents noticed in the background of the picture a cross as Joseph waved goodbye. A copy of this picture can be seen on Joseph’s assigned locker, # 2401. This is the last photo taken of Joseph.

In this remembrance of Joseph I am hopeful that you find some comfort as we all continue to deal with his untimely death. I also hope you catch a glimpse of the goodness which was Joseph his strong faith, his exceptional sense of humor, his love of his school, and his unyielding friendship to those he touched both in and out of school.

Joseph wrote this September for his Morality/Social Justice class an assignment on the most challenging Beatitude for him… “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” In speaking about himself, Joseph mentioned that he had a laid back personality and did not believe that sinning is right. Joseph goes on to say how difficult it is to lead a pure sin-proof life, especially when only a few percent of the people around you are. A striking theme in this paper is Joe asking, “What does purity mean?”

Joe answers his own question with the following: I need to free myself from all my burdens that I may see God. Seeing God is the whole reason for living. If we lead our lives with pure hearts we will enter into the Kingdom of God…We need more people with pure hearts in our society than people who only care about money and becoming famous.

The moral self-inventory Joseph takes belies his young age. He was a strongly faithful person, who knew himself well, and understood the need for people with purity of heart.

Joseph’s older brother, Anthony, himself a graduate of Salesianum class of ’05 wrote when he was a student here in March of 2002 some comments on life and death. I will paraphrase to allow you to see the strength and similarities of these two brothers. “Life is a gift that God has given us… We view death as a very sad thing. It is sad because we won’t get to see those who have died. But we should also rejoice, for now they are with their creator, looking down at us and watching over us. We may have lost them in the flesh, but we will never lose them in spirit… The suffering and pain and sadness we feel from losing a loved one or friend brings us closer to Christ’s suffering and ultimately closer to Christ We may suffer in life, but after we die we share in Christ’s eternal life and happiness in heaven.”

We will miss you Joseph, we will continue to reach out to your family in our own way to help lighten the burden for those you have touched and those you loved. You have permitted us to be part of your life and we remain thankful to have grown to know such a model set of parents along the journey. Thank you.

Our patron says. “Let God gather to Himself whatever he has planted for he takes nothing out of season.”
-St. Francis DeSales

-Michael Gallagher – Assistant Principal/Dean of Students