Joseph Laurito

“His strength, courage, kindness and good humor – even during periods of great pain, while in the hospitals and at home – were noted and commented upon by many of the medical teams who treated him,” according to his wife, Janice.

As the youngest son of Italian immigrant parents who became U. S. citizens, Joe was the last of the first generation of American-born members of the Laurito family.

He attended the Fredonia public schools and graduated from Cardinal Mindszenty High School in 1960.

For the next 43 years, he worked at the Red Wing Co. as a jam and jelly cook, making many friends at the former factory at Newton and Main Streets in Fredonia.

He was a man who loved his family first and would do whatever he could to help his friends. Later in life, he became a loving caretaker for his brother, Louis, and religiously visited his sister, Angie, in the nursing home until his own illness prevented this. “His visits were a virtuous task that many people are not emotionally able to do,” said his wife.

A devoted husband and father who enjoyed his 17-year retirement, Joe found great pleasure in tending his garden and going for coffee with his buddies in the R.O.M.E.O. Club on Monday and Thursday mornings. He was a doting father and grandfather who saw these children as “my treasures, my pride and joy and my greatest accomplishment.” Among them were a special nephew and niece, Hessen Bahgat and his sister, Amanda, who considered him as grandfather rather than uncle.

Joe had an uncanny knowledge of the people of his Italian-American neighborhood, and his ability to remember names and stories were enjoyed by family, friends and acquaintances alike.

He was preceded in death by parents, Gerardo and Anna (Guignetti) Laurito; three brothers, Michael J., Sr., and Louis R., both of Fredonia, and Rocco A. of North East, PA; a sister, Angeline Gatto of Dunkirk; his nephew, Michael J. Laurito, Jr. of Fredonia; and his first wife, Justine R. Polvino of Fredonia.

He is survived by his wife of 47 years, the former Janice M. Weinheimer, four sons, Joseph R. (Tammy Crofoot), Daniel T., Loren C., and Leigh-Christos (Amanda Wiggers), and three grandchildren, Giacinte, Russell, and Elysia Laurito, along with many nieces and nephews and their children and grandchildren.