JOSEPH CHARLES CHERVENKA

JOSEPH C. "JOE" CHERVENKA, age 108, passed away peacefully on November 1, 2024 in Largo, FL at the Barrington Senior Living Center. Born in Cleveland, OH on August 29, 1916, Joe was touched by both pandemics of the last century.  His father died due to Spanish influenza in 1918.  His mother remarried and he was raised in a family with his older brother, Frank, and sister (all predeceasing him by many years).  Prior to the start of WWII, he married Anne Varga of Lakewood, OH and spent the next 40 years living in Parma, OH.  Retiring to Largo, FL in the 1970s, they were together nearly 70 years with Anne passing in 2009.  At the time of his death, he was the 17th oldest man in the USA. Joe is survived by his nephews, John H. Varga, MD of Las Vegas, NV and William P. Varga and his wife, Kate, of Sugar Grove, OH.

During WWII, Joe joined the U.S. Navy in 1942 and was a member of a group called the Armed Guard, embarked onboard convoy ships in the Atlantic.  Awaiting orders in London in June 1944, he was then sent to Normandy on D-Day +1 for beachmaster duties.  Joe was honorably discharged in 1945 as a Gunners Mate First Class.  

Joe was an avid tennis player, winning a club championship in his 70’s, and a lifelong golfer, at one point achieving a single digit handicap, playing his last round when he was 99.  Joe retired from AT&T as a manager and was amazed at the progress in cellular technology over the last 30 years, though he never owned a cell phone.  Joe and Anne enjoyed worldwide travel, including many countries in Europe, nearly all the United States and even a freighter cruise down the east coast of South America.  They were also both avid ballroom dancers, an activity Joe enjoyed even past his 100th birthday.  Joe even took a Mediterranean cruise with friends Dennis and Vicki Miller in his late 90’s.  

A devout Lutheran, Graveside Service and interment Wednesday, November 13, 2024, Lakewood Park Cemetery (22025 Detroit Rd., Rocky River, OH) at 2:30 P.M. where he will join his beloved Anne and her parents, John and Anna Varga.  In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are suggested to Suncoast Hospice of Pinellas County Florida at suncoasthospice.org.  Arrangements by CHAMBERS FUNERAL HOME of CLEVELAND (216) 251-6566.