Josef Anton Pisk

Josef Anton Pisk, 90, of Rockingham, VA passed away on Sunday, September 14, 2025 at Bellaire at Stone Port Assisted Living in Harrisonburg. Josef was born on January 23, 1935 in Cilli, Yugoslavia and was the son of the late Maria Tratnik Pisk. On April 29, 1963, he married the former Hildegard J. Lackner. After 27 years of marriage, she preceded in him in death on March 2, 1990, after a prolonged battle with breast cancer. He attended elementary through high school and then a technical trade school to study tooling and quantitative measurement in Graz, Austria. Josef came to the United States in 1956 because of his desire for a better life after the devastation he witnessed during the war. He met his wife, Hilda, in the Gottschee Club in Ridgewood, New York, moved to Smithtown, NY after the birth of their second son and remained in the house they bought together until 2015, when he moved to Harrisonburg. He was employeed as a mechanical inspector with various companies in Austria (BMW, Fabrik Andritz), Milwaukee and New York (FXR, Kollsman, Metco/Perkin Elmer and Sulzer) until his retirement in 1997. Josef was born and raised Catholic and his faith sustained him throught the difficulties of World War II and the death of his beloved wife, Hilda. He played, watched and coached soccer his entire life. He was an incredibly hard-working person who loved his family and taught his three boys to fix just about anything. Surviving family members include three sons, Eric Pisk and wife, Kimberly of Harrisonburg, Joseph Pisk and wife, Cathie of St. James, NY and Mark Pisk of Smithtown, NY; grandchildren, Jennifer, Joseph, Jessica, Gianna, Taylor and Jackson; great-grandchildren, Ronan and a soon-to-be born grandson; sister, Brigitte Ehrengross of Graz, Austria and many cousins, nieces and nephews in Austria. In addition to his mother and wife, he was preceded in death by grandsons, Ryan and Andrew Pisk; brother, Willi; sisters, Irma and Maria; mother and father-in-law, Hedwig and Michael Lackner; a brother-in-law, Frank and a sister-in-law, Elfriede Lackner. A funeral mass will be celebrated at 4 p.m. on Friday, September 26, 2025 at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Harrisonburg, with Father Silvio Kaberia officiating. A Catholic burial will be conducted at St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York at a later date. The family will receive friends from 12 to 2 p.m. on Friday, September 26, 2025 at Kyger Funeral Home in Harrisonburg. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Catholic Charities USA, 2050 Ballenger Avenue, Alexandria, VA 22314 or by visiting https://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/