Joseph J. Vesely

Joseph J. Vesely

Deerfield, MA - Vesely, Joseph J., of Deerfield, on April 30, 2025, at age 97. Joe grew up in Rosedale, NY. Upon graduating from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1945, Joe enlisted in the U.S. Navy near the end of WWII. After his discharge in March 1947 with the rank of Aviation Electronic Technician Mate Second Class, Joe attended Hofstra University on the G.I. bill, where he met Eileen Massmann; they married in 1952. After dabbling in new-fangled technology (installing television antennas), Joe got his first job in the publishing industry working for J. J. Augustin, Inc. in Manhattan.

In 1956, Joe and Eileen took a lengthy working hiatus to travel around Europe on a motorcycle and sidecar. They returned to Long Island to start a family in 1957, first in Freeport, then in Merrick, and had three children together, Sean, Liam and Nara. Joe secured work at Harper & Row, where he developed a specialty in the type, weight and quality of paper used for printing books. From there, Joe worked for several years as a book production executive at Linotype printing company Algin Press, in Queens, NY. In 1974, Joe started his own company, Production Services, working as an independent book production consultant, eventually focusing on college science and medical textbooks. After Joe and Eileen divorced in 1977, Joe moved to Jackson Heights, NY. In 1985, Joe took a new job as Production Department Manager at the boutique publishing house Sinauer & Associates, and moved to rural Deerfield, MA to make a new home. While at Sinauer, Joe met Janice Holabird, and their friendship blossomed into a long-lasting relationship filled with love and happiness.

After retiring from Sinauer in 1994, Joe spent his time actively engaged in various hobbies and activities, including piloting small Cessna aircraft, driving his 1933 Chevy roadster, woodworking, gardening, playing his banjo and harmonicas, designing and building creative projects for his grandchildren, donating his time to various charitable causes including the Museum of Our Industrial Heritage, and vacationing at his favorite place (besides his Deerfield home), Grand Cayman, where he spent time snorkeling, swimming and visiting with the many lifelong friends he made there.

Joe is survived by his partner, Janice; his son Liam and his wife Amy and grandchildren Tom and Gillian; his daughter Nara; his three grandchildren from his first son, Sean (who predeceased Joe), Connie, Christine and Pammy; and great-grandchildren Bianca, Nicholas, Miley, and Joey; Gavin; Brinley and Nyla; as well as Janice's family, Terry and Lisa; Kursten and Ken and their children Hattie and Sam; and Chelsea and Ben and their children Niyama and Adele.