Joseph Thomas Macozek

YORK, Maine ; Attended by his wife and family, Joseph Thomas Macozek died at his home on Cider Hill Rd., York, on Saturday, May 10, 2008, over five years after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

He was born on Oct. 20, 1926, in Everett, Mass., the son of Helen (Borowska) and Joseph Walter Macozek, and had lived in Milton, Mass., until he married his wife.

He is survived by his wife, Bobby; his daughters, Marie Macozek of Laconia and Miriam Wolfe of York; his grandchildren, Martin White of Louisville, Colo., Amy Etheridge of Avarda, Colo., and Tasha Wolfe of York; and one great-grandson, Gage Wolfe of York; a brother, John Macozek of Braintree, Mass.

A veteran of the Navy Submarine Service (but only after securing his father's signed permission for his enlistment ; for "patriotic reasons" ; at the age of 17), Joe served from 1943 to 1946, ultimately as radio-sonar operator on board the submarines USS CREVALLE (SS 291) and the USS BLACKBIRD (SS 221).

Soon after World War II and his honorable discharge from active duty, Joe married Barbara Jane Dekker of Manchester and embarked upon a successful career in a fascinating variety of fields.

Settling his young family in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire, he began work in public relations and advertising, first at New Hampshire's oldest radio station, WLNH in Laconia, then the Newport Argus-Champion and finally WMUR-TV in Manchester. He was director of development for Belknap College for many years and taught himself management, economics and finance there. Later he directed all land acquisition in southern New Hampshire for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

After their daughters had left home, Joe and Bobbi spent two years sailing in the Caribbean Sea and living in Key West, Fla. Returning to New England, they settled in York, where Joe took the position of chief financial officer for the York County Health Services (visiting nurses) in Saco. At length he decided to work with his hands and joined Simplex Wire and Cable, Newington, N.H., where he rose to become quality control supervisor for IQS of the laying and ; especially ; the splicing of trans-oceanic cables, a job which several times took him literally around the world.

Besides his family and his unusually varied professional career, Joe pursued a plethora of interests and hobbies that might have overwhelmed a lesser man. He was an expert carpenter, cabinet maker and craftsman in wood and built his own 37' ocean-going ketch, the Artemisia. He and Bobbi sailed Artemisia around the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico from 1971 to 1973. Sailing was always a happy preoccupation and Joe was a longtime member and past commodore of the Winnipesaukee Yacht Club. He was an avid skier and coached the Belknap College ski team for several years. A natural outdoorsman, Joe loved freshwater fishing, and indeed, kept his young family from hunger a number of times by a night's work catching smelts in the first lean years after the war.

A true autodidact in business management and finance, Joe was equally remarkable as a builder and craftsman. He was a true Adept: not only quick to grasp principles and concepts, but equally able to do, to make, to create and to build. But he will be best remembered ; by all who knew him ; as an honest, forthright, amiable and enjoyable companion and an endlessly generous and helpful friend.

A celebration of life will be held mid-summer at the home of Marie Macozek, 66 Landing Lane, Unit 116, Laconia, N.H. 1-603-293-2399.

Memorial contributions may be made to York Hospital, 15 Hospital Dr., York, ME 03909.

Lucas & Eaton Funeral Home, 91 Long Sands Rd., York, ME is directing arrangements. Visit www.lucaseatonfuneralhome.com