JOSEPH ISRAEL

ISRAEL--Joseph J. Joseph J. Israel (Joe) of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida and New York City passed peacefully on September 17, 2021 holding hands with Paula, his loving wife of 59 years. Joe was devoted to his family and friends, a kind, giving, and dapper man, who listened attentively to others, remembered their stories, and would endlessly reminisce with his life's collective memories of the people he touched and their adventures. Everyone has a memory of Joe, his stories, his kindness, his sale's skills, his clothes, but he was perhaps best known as the only person who, until dementia robbed him of this ability, remembered and acknowledged the birthdays of everyone with whom he crossed paths. A Brooklyn boy who met his bride at fifteen years old; graduated from NYU, served in the Army, and went on to become a legendary insurance salesman with Northwestern Mutual Life. Joe is survived by his wife Paula, their children Larry Israel (Nicole) and Randi Odesser (Steven), and their grandchildren Casey and Emily Odesser and Max Israel. Donations in Joe's memory can be made to: Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation: alzdiscovery.org/donate. With the Covid-19, Delta variant raging, and out of respect for the health and wellbeing of Joe's many friends and family, the funeral will be private, however, we would like to share his eulogy, written by his son Larry. My father Joseph Israel was a great man. I know all children view their father as special but Joe really was something. He loved my mother, my sister, his nieces, nephews and his grandchildren fiercely. He viewed sharing that love openly as his responsibility. He loved us so hard that sometimes it pinched a bit. He was my protector and life guide and I know he played that role for so many he was close with. For those of us that were lucky enough to be taken under that wing, there was no safer or better place in this world. When Poppa Joe took care of you, you were taken care of. My dad didn't waste time on things or people he didn't care about. He saw the world in black and white. He avoided nuance and focused on what he believed, what was in his heart. He was ultra-confident that he knew what was right and what was wrong. His confidence was so powerful you could smell it on him, like cologne. I sometimes disagreed with him, but I was always impressed at how sure he was. And I knew he was always doing what he thought what was right. He did the right thing always, not just when it was easier. His belief in himself was awe inspiring. Every morning he looked in the mirror and told himself how handsome he was and uttered his daily mantra; nothing he was going to encounter that day was going keep him from succeeding at whatever he was going to do. My father was genuinely surprised by every set back. He was shocked anytime someone said no to him. He was never satisfied. He wanted to be better. He wanted to be best. In fact, that was his goal, to be the best at everything he did. He was a relentless worker who practiced and played hard every minute. He never gave up. He was always interested in improving himself and demanded that everyone he cared about do the same. He was always on. Morning, noon and night and twice on Sunday, he was ON. His hand made suits, fancy ties and shoes were always perfect and he knew it. I always said if he could hold his hand on your elbow, he was like a shaman, you couldn't resist his will. It was the last step to yes. The hand on the elbow gave him an inexplicable control. He was going to make that sale. He was going to help you take care of your family and its future. He was going to help you find the path to right or get you back on it. When you looked in his eyes you could be absolutely sure that he believed what he was telling you. I think I know the secret of my dad's belief system. He became so confident and sure of himself thanks to his first big "sale". Convincing my mom to be his teammate in life. They met at 15 and 13. Two Brooklyn kids whose love for one another allowed them to overcome any obstacle. It was a lifelong partnership that became the key to everything my father achieved. He could have a singular focus at work because mom had the home covered. My dad never wrote a check or changed a diaper. He never took a car in for service or booked a plane ticket. Although domestic chores were never in his purview, he was at every game or event I participated in and was my biggest and most ferocious cheerleader. He was tough on us all, but only because he wanted the same thing he wanted for himself. He wanted us to make the good, better and the better, best. My father treasured his family. It was always his top priority. Nothing was more important. And that love of family became the driving force in his career. He spent his life convincing people if they loved their family, they'd follow his advice. The pitch was incredibly successful. Joe became the Babe Ruth of the life insurance industry. His success exceeded his own imagination and that delighted him. He marveled at what he had become. But he never rested on his laurels. He worked right until he couldn't, with my mom at his side. My dad's passing was a blessing. He was ready for what comes next. I have faith he left behind better than he was handed, and if there is a heaven, I hope he can get his hand on God's elbow. The world will be a better place.