Joseph John Fuentes

Joseph John Fuentes, 66, died on May 8th, 2025. He is survived by his beloved wife of 38 years, Leslie; his daughters Adina and Jocelyn; his son-in-law Tamas; his brother-in-law Michael; 9 siblings: Iris (Martin), Lucie, Lino Jr. (Carla), Henri (Jessica), Nellie, Peggy (Phillip), David (Kevin), Gladys Marie (John), Patricia (Matthew) and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents Engracia and Lino Sr.; brother Paul Anthony; niece Christina; and brothers-in-law Gerald and Leonard. Joe was born in Doylestown, PA on January 31st, 1959. His parents emigrated from Puerto Rico to Doylestown in 1947, and he was born 7th out of 11 siblings, their 3rd son. His father was an accomplished chef at various Bucks County restaurants, and Joe was raised in a hard-working and devout Catholic family. He was an altar boy and went to school at Our Lady of Mt Carmel and later graduated from Archbishop Wood High School. In 1976, he enlisted in the US Air Force and served proudly as a Weapons Control Systems Mechanic for four years at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, VA. Following his service, he enrolled in Thomas Nelson Community College, followed by Old Dominion University where he received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Master's in Engineering Management. He also became certified as a Licensed Professional Engineer. While putting himself through college, he had a successful DJing business in Hampton Roads where he was known as DJ Joe. During that time in 1987, he was introduced to Leslie by her close friend Katherine Tawes, and they went on to have Jocelyn who was born in 1990, joining her 9-year-old sister Adina in their new family home in Windsor Forest in James City County. Putting two daughters through public school motivated him to become passionately involved in the local school board, where he served as an elected official for 10 years. He also continued to support his community as a member of the Virginia Peninsula Community College Local Board as well as the Virginia Coalition for Open Government Board. Joe took pride in his career managing nuclear engineering research and development projects for Newport News Shipbuilding, Northrup Gruman, and the US Navy. This included working on the JOCELN project with other very talented engineers and staff, many of whom became close friends. After retiring, he spent his free time going biking with his wife and his brother, Lino, and found a new community in the sport of pickleball. Throughout his life he also loved skiing, riding motorcycles, racing his BMW, taking long road trips, and spending time with his family at the Outer Banks. Joe was a wonderful husband, father, son, brother, and friend. He was deeply loved by his family and community and will be missed. Memorial donations may be made to Virginia Peninsula Community College via https://www.tmcfunding.com/funds/in-memory-of-joseph-fuentes/13312/. To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Joseph, please visit our floral store.