I first met Joe at Thanksgiving time in 2021, when I started to volunteer at the Andes / Bovina Food Pantry. While we spent a cold first winter together in the pantry, we had the opportunity to spend many slow Friday evenings chatting and learning about each other's lives. What a wild coincidence to find out that we'd worked for CBS at the same time in NYC, although in different buildings on different programs.
Joe was a great story-teller, and he drew me into the rabbit hole more than once, telling a crazy tale so seriously that I believed it all, until I'd notice his eyes starting to crinkle up and a little gleam appear and I'd realize that, once again, he was making it all up! If his last name wasn't Slavic I'd swear that he was 100% Irish with the gift of the blarney.
We sorely miss him at the pantry, and I know that we all hope he's at peace now, and able to see his family again wherever that may be.
Mary Peterson
