Julian Joseph R.

Joseph Robert Julian, aged 88, of Wilmington, Delaware passed away peacefully at home on Thursday, April 3, 2025. He joins his beloved wife Barbara, who passed away in January of 2025 and with whom he shared almost 66 years of marriage.
Joe was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania to James and Rose DeBlasio Julian. He grew up in Wilmington, Delaware, and was a proud graduate of PS DuPont High School class of 1954 and LaSalle University, where he graduated in 1958.
Joe began working in the heavy and highway construction business in 1958 with his father's company James Julian, Inc. He was responsible for many projects in Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Baltimore, and served a good portion of his career at James Julian, Inc. as President. Joe started his own company, JJID Inc., in 1995 where he served as Chairman and CEO. JJID's projects have included jobs in Delaware, the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and Baltimore and Hartford Counties in Maryland.
Joe was a Board Member of WSFS Financial Corporation and a Director at Maryland Materials. Additionally, he served four years as Officer and President of the Maryland Highway Contractors Association and served on the boards of numerous organizations.
Joe was a fan of the Philadelphia Eagles and Phillies and the Baltimore Ravens. He had a great smile and laugh, enjoyed a good joke, and was always interested in the stories of the people he met, from taxi drivers to friends of his kids to business colleagues. One of his great pleasures was participating in and helping to organize the annual PS DuPont High School Class of 1954 reunions. And although he lived in Allentown for only a very short time, he expressed great fondness for the city of his birth and always enjoyed visiting with his Allentown relatives.
In addition to his wife Barbara, Joe is predeceased by his parents, his sister Dolores Karpinski and brother Frank Julian.
Joe will be dearly missed by his children Jim (Nancy), Maggie, Trishia, Nancy, Matt (Claire) and Kate, grandchildren Nina (David), Michael (Jenna), Anna, Kiera, Aedan and Collette, and great-grandchildren James, Graham, Shep and Rome, his sisters Louise Volk and Rose Anne Julian and a host of nieces and nephews, cousins, and extended family, both in the U.S. and Italy.
The Julian family would like to thank the staff of Delaware Hospice and especially the Bayada Home Health aides who cared for Joe with such kindness and compassion over the past months.
A visitation will be held on Monday, April 14 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at McCrery & Harra Funeral Home, 3924 Concord Pike, Wilmington, DE 19803 with overflow parking available at the adjacent Brandywine YMCA. Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Tuesday, April 15 at 11:00 a.m. at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, 4701 Weldin Road, Wilmington, DE 19803 with interment to follow at Cathedral Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, contributions in Joe's memory can be made to Little Sisters of the Poor, 185 Salem Church Road, Newark, DE 19713 or AtTAcK Addiction, PO Box 36, Bear, DE 19701.