Obituary of Joseph Colombo

Joseph Colombo, a resident of Burlington for over 55 years, passed away unexpectedly on Thursday afternoon, December 11, 2014. The beloved husband of the late Dorothy “Dolly” who passed away on June 10, 2014, he was 85 years old. Joe was born in Boston. He was one of 5 five children born to Italian immigrants the late Salvatore and Rosina. He married his wife Dolly in 1949 when she was just 19 and he was 20. They were blessed with 64 years of marriage. Joe went to work as a Meat cutter in the New Market Square section of South Boston where all the premier meat markets were located. In 1959 Joe and his family would settle in the Winnmere section of Burlington. By day Joe would work hard to provide for his family at the meat market and in the evenings and the weekends Joe worked building his own home which he still lived in. Joe also built the family summer home in Lake Winnisquam in New Hampshire where the Colombo family spent many summers together. There wasn’t a project that Joe wouldn’t tackle himself whether it was electric or plumbing. Joe would rather give the project a shot himself rather than use a contractor. He would do anything for his children including helping his daughter with the construction of her home. Whatever they needed he was there for them. Joe was proud to see his 11 grandchildren grow into adulthood and start families of their own. Joe was the beloved husband of 64 years of the late Dorothy “Dolly” (Cipriano). Loving father of Salvatore & his wife Susan of Woburn, Sandra McGrath & her husband Charles of Marlborough, Linda Strait & her husband David of Waltham, Joseph & his wife Nancy of Burlington, and Karen of Woburn. Brother of the late John Fagone, Christopher Colombo, Theresa Caponigro and Josephine LaMonica. Grandfather of Michelle Garside, Jessica Vaughan, Jennifer O’Hare, Brian Strait, Erika & Rachel Swanson, Christina McGrath, Michael, Joseph, Tina, and Steven Colombo. Great grandfather of Max Correia, Jacob & Thomas Colombo, Ava & Harrison Vaughan, and Sienna O’Hare. 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 Monday December 15 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Followed by a Mass of Christian Burial in St. Margaret’s Church, 111 Winn St., Burlington at noon. Interment in Pine Haven Cemetery, Burlington. Memorial’s in Joe’s name may be made to the National Kidney Foundation, 85 Astor Avenue, Suite 2, Norwood, MA 02062. Joseph Colombo – Euology Grandpa was 85 years old and not in the best health when he passed away last Thursday. And yet, I was totally stunned to get the news that he was no longer with us. It was a punch in the stomach. I got up and left the room, gasping for air. That’s because Joe Colombo was a force, unlike any man I’ve ever met in my life. I guess I believed that he was somehow bigger than life, too sturdy for death. I had just brought my boys by to visit with him the Sunday before last, and when I got to the house, he had a drill out on the table and he talked to me about how he was going to redo his concrete stairs as soon as the weather was nice. Time never weakened who he was. He’s forever our grandpa, our papa, our Uncle Joe, our Uncle Sonny, our Joe…our Dad. And he was one of a kind. I wondered as I sat down to write this eulogy how I could carry the weight of a man like my grandfather through a speech like this. It’s no easy job. For me personally, his legacy gives my entire life a focus. I grew up in church, and yet the moral creed…the values that I’ve clung to…the ones that I think many of us in this room are left with…came more by the example of Joe Colombo than anywhere else. Joe taught us to work hard in life, to take big gambles on ourselves, and to hedge those bets with the strength in our own bones. The son of immigrant parents, he passed on to us the immigrant’s tenacious pursuit of a better life. That my grandfather moved his family from East Boston to Burlington into a house that he built with his own hands in between his day job and his family life is a fact that I remember relaying to my classmates in grade school…and to anyone of any consequence in my life ever since. My children know this story. My cousin Jen’s baby girl, she will know this story. That house in Burlington is a direct reminder of who he was, and it’s a part of his story that will be passed on. But that’s not the only structure still standing by the strength of Joe’s hands. On his own, he built or renovated buildings in East Boston…in Sommerville…in New Hampshire…in Florida… He did it without training. He did it without fear. He did it with a sort of reckless inspiration, often against the advice of those around him. If you take a look at the lives of his children, Karen, Joe, Linda, Sandra, and Sal, and his grandchildren you’ll see the mark of his work ethic all over the place. You’ll also see the mark of his love, his generosity, and his devotion. Life is never perfect. We make mistakes and we need grace. No one knew this better than my grandfather. He’d often talk about the grace he was shown by my grandmother, and how she helped him change his life at a time when he needed it most. What he never really talked about though was the grace that he showed others. Whether it was lending his money, or lending his hands, grandpa loved his family and worked hard to better our mistakes, to help us on our way, and to keep us moving forward in life, together. The “better life” he worked so hard to build was for his wife, and for his children. Grandpa was the central figure in our family, and he was always the center of attention. He yelled the loudest, he laughed the hardest, and for goodness sakes, he told the best damn stories. His memory amazed me. His sense of humor was outrageous. He was funny even when he wasn’t trying to be. Like when he’d tell the story about his argument with a car dealership over his warranty. He wanted to be very clear about where they could put their warranty if they didn’t include the windshield wipers in it. I guess those guys probably didn’t find him quite as funny as I did… He would paint these detailed and hilarious scenes from his childhood in the city –he’d walk with his mother to school, head in the front door and run out the back, only to spend the day playing football in the streets and running from the police – through his young adulthood – the time he took the day off of his delivery job, a job which had him driving a truck all over the city, in order to go and get his driver’s license – to his stories about raising my father, building houses, and going on cruises with nana. He was always telling jokes or cursing the government; he was always talking over everyone; he was always holding court. I can hear him right now telling the story about checking with everyone on his flight to Florida to make sure he got the best deal on his airfare. “So I says to the guy next to me, ‘How much you pay for your tickets?’ And he says, ‘$400.’ And I says, “Geeze…you should call and complain.’ And he says to me, ‘Why, how much you pay?’ And I says to him, ‘$200.’ And says, ‘Wow, that is a big difference.’ And I says to him, ‘What, don’t feel bad, the guy over here paid $550.’” Like I said, Grandpa was a force, and the void he leaves behind is a big one. As strong as he was, though, it wasn’t the loss of his health or old age that weakened his resolve. It was the loss of his wife, his Doll. For 64 years Joe and Doll showed us what a beautiful thing marriage can be. What a perfect relationship can come from imperfect people. Losing Doll was too much for the man who, in my eyes, was strong enough to do anything. And in these final months with him, in his grief, it was as clear to me as ever what a loyal, loving, and powerful man Joe Colombo was. He taught us to work hard, to bet on ourselves, to be fiercely loyal and generous to those closest to us, to laugh, and finally, to love the one you’ve committed to…as if your life depends on it. I love you Grandpa. I’ll miss you.