Obituary of Joseph P. Vadala

Joseph P. Vadala (82 years old) a retired supervisor at Digital passed away after a long illness on Saturday morning, September 8, 2018. Joe was born in Boston, the son of the Nicholas and Frances Vadala. He grew up in Medford and graduated St. Clement High School in 1954. He married his high school sweetheart, Janice Martin, in 1956. They settled in Burlington in 1963 where they raised their 5 children. Joe was the type of man that could do almost anything he set his mind to. He had a diverse working career during which he spent 24 years in the Army National Guard. He went to Officer’s Training School and spent several years fulltime working at the Nike Missile Site. Joe and his brother Andrew opened “Vadala’s Market”, a local Grocery Store on Rt. 62 on the Burlington/Wilmington line. The store sold fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, produce, and household goods. It was truly a family business with his oldest son Nick and oldest nephew Sal Zagami working the registers and stocking shelves at a very young age. Joe went on to work for T. Wellington Carpet, which is now the site of A.J. Rose Carpet. He oversaw the construction of the building and then worked as the warehouse manager. Joe then went onto manufacturing. He worked for 10 years as a production supervisor for Polaroid and ended his career working 15 years as a manufacturing supervisor at Digital. Joe was a jack of all trades. There wasn’t anything Joe couldn’t build or fix including additions and or renovations to his home. He did everything from framing to plumbing and electrical. He also spent hours in his workshop on an endless array of projects. Joe was an outdoor adventurist. Together he and Janice purchased 40 acres in Starks Maine and built a cabin. Joe loved it. He went for hunting, weekend retreats, and vacations. His wife Janice much preferred vacations that had accommodations with heat, running water, and room service. They traveled all over the world with Italy, Portugal, England, and France being some of their favorite destinations. He was always there to assist and guide his children. Joe was the person to go to for advice and help. He was a strong role model for each one of them. He loved spending time with all his grandchildren. Joe was always cheering for them as they competed in softball, gymnastics, and soccer. Joe has faced countless health issues and setbacks during his lifetime. He never complained, accepted his fate and continued on. Joe and Janice recently celebrated their 62 wedding anniversary this past Labor Day and enjoyed a small celebration with his wife and family. Joe was the beloved husband of Janice L. (Martin) Vadala. He was the loving father of Nick & his wife Kathy of Salem, NH, Donna Urban & her husband Jim of Melrose, Joe Vadala & Jane Willis of Jaffrey, NH, Lisa Dellanno & her husband Steven of Salem, NH, and Janice Richard & her husband Terry of Burlington. He was the brother of Santa Zagami of Winchester, Peter of Saugus, the late Anthony and Andrew. He was the proud grandfather of Kristen, Leeann, & Joseph Vadala, Tracy West, Jenna Garcia, Jayme Phillips, Matt Satalino, Jim, Rob, & Tina Urban, Holly, Lia & Téa Dellanno, Abby, Bella, & Emma Richard and great grandfather of Brayden & Parker West and Father-in-law of the late Karen Vadala. Visiting hours will be held at the Edward V. Sullivan Funeral Home, 43 Winn St., Burlington (exit 34 off Rt. 128/95, Woburn side) on Sunday, Sept. 16 from 2-5 p.m. Funeral from the Sullivan Funeral Home on Monday, Sept. 17 at 9 a.m. Followed by a Funeral Mass in St. Margaret’s Church 111 Winn St., Burlington at 10 a.m. Services will conclude with a burial in Chestnut Hill Cemetery, Burlington. Memorials in Joe’s name may be to the American Cancer Society, 30 Speen St., Framingham, MA 01701 or www.cancer.org. Family Remembrance by Nick Thank you family and friends for attending today services. Your loving support has been a great comfort to my mother Janice and our entire family. Where do I start when talking about Dad? I guess I would like to say that I am the luckiest of my other siblings Donna, Joe, Lisa and Janice. By luck of the draw, god graced me by being the first born. That gave me the opportunity to spend more time with Dad. Be that working at Vadala’s market at the age of 9, turning the basement into the family room, or working at T Wellington Carpets when I was in HS and College, being the oldest certainly gave me a chance to spend more time Dad. And you know what he taught me? Family is everything! From family parties in the basement of Aunty Santa’s 3 family on Mayberry Ave with his siblings Uncle Tony, Auntie Santa, Uncle Andrew and Uncle Peter’s families, or going over to Nana an Gramps’ house, or learning to swim with the Russo clan at Aunt Bee and Uncle Manny’s to trips to New Bedford for Cookouts at Pat and Denny’s or parties with Jimmy and Marylou, he always made time for family. This family theme continued on within our own family nucleus. Be that through the weddings of all his children, the births and milestones of his 16 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren, to the Xmas and Thanksgiving gatherings, the focus continued to be on family and love. That’s not to say that everything was rosy. In our family, as in many others there were struggles. The untimely passing of Uncle Tony, Uncle Andrew and Karen where trying times for Dad and our entire family. But in the end, family meant being there for good and for bad, and the good continued to far outweigh the bad. These last few years have been a challenge for dad. But he rose to big family occasions like a trooper. From the weddings of his grandchildren to the Me and Kathy’s wedding all the way in FLA., if there was a big family event he had to be there no matter what. And true to his nature there were no in laws or step grandchildren, all were immediately taken into his heart and into the family circle of love. As you may know these last few months were struggle for dad but he persevered as he was stronger than most in life and in death. Even celebrating his 62nd wedding anniversary with the love of his life by his side 4 days before he passed with a smile on his face and his signature thumbs up. I want to especially thank my mother for her courage and the patience she had with dad in his final days and to Janice and Terry and their family for their continued loving oversight of both Dad and Ma. It was a comfort to the rest of us to have you so close by. Dad’s final request was to be home to pass peacefully in his own bed. It would not have been possible if not for my mother’s undying love and the support of our entire family. In closing I would again like to thank you for your loving support. But more importantly I would like to thank you all for sharing your lives with Dad and being a part of his legacy. It meant more to him than you will ever know.