Joseph F. Zufall, 83, of Douglas, Wyoming, passed away on Tuesday, April 24, at the Swedish Medical Center in Denver, Colorado.
Joe was born in Punxsutawney, PA., on November 13, 1934, to Joseph P. and Hazel B. (Frederick) Zufall.
He graduated from Punxsutawney High School in 1953. After a brief time with Ford Motor Company over the summer, he joined the Air Force in October 1953. Following basic training, he was transferred to Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls, Texas, to attend technical training, where he graduated “top” of his class.
In May 1954, he met the love of his life, LaVeta Arlene Pruett, at her dad’s church in Wichita Falls, Texas. They were married September 14, 1954. He was then transferred to Wright Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio. Joe was most proud of the fact that he was on the crew that did the testing on the B-52, an airplane that is still flying to this day.
He was discharged in October 1957 and went back to work for Ford Motor Company as a supervisor in its paint department. They transferred him to Lorain, Ohio, and in 1959, he decided to get his college degree.
In 1964, Joe graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a major in physics and a minor in math. While attending college, he farmed a 33-acre farm, was postmaster in Cloe, PA, and had a working garage. After graduating from college, he worked for an oil drilling company for several months, and then went back to work for the Department of Defense at Wright Patterson AFB.
Joe loved hunting, fishing, and hiking in the mountains, so his desire was to live out west. In 1970, he had the opportunity to be transferred to Denver. In searching for a house, his main objective was that his children live in a great community and go to the “best” schools, so they settled in the “Dam” development by the Cherry Creek Dam, where the children attended the Cherry Creek Schools. He had hiked, fished, and hunted with his sons, grandsons and many friends – it was called “male bonding.”
After leaving the Department of Defense in 1983, he had established a small gun shop in Golden, Colorado, until his wife retired in 2000. They retired to Douglas, CO., where they built their retirement home 14 miles south of Douglas on Esterbrook Road.
Joe loved his family dearly. He said that his “purpose here on Earth” was to take care of his wife and children, which he did admirably.
He is survived by his wife, LaVeta Arlene Zufall, of 63 years; his children, Joe (Margie) of Pueblo, Colorado, Jim (Brenda) of Denver, Jesse (Michelle) of Douglas, and Jackie (Wayne), also of Douglas; 22 grandchildren; 32 great-grandchildren; his sister, Nancy Duke of Florida; and two brothers, Fred Zufall of Florida and Larry Zufall of North Carolina.
A celebration of life will be held at a later date.
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