Joeseph Mel Kassuba DOB April 17, 1938 DOD July 8, 2024

"Dang it, Joe Kassuba," I said, as we turned into the business driveway. "You promised me you'd take me to a Scottish restaurant!" I've never been to a Scottish restaurant before but the Golden Arches loomed before me. And that's the way it was with Joe for the last 23 years…full of surprises.

It is with sadness and great joy that we are announcing the passing of our dear Joe Kassuba, also known as "Joe" or "Papa Joe" for so many. Joe has had a challenging life the last six months with various health issues and was certainly ready to go home to Jesus.

Joe had an interesting start in life being born on the dining room table at Uncle Bob and Aunt Anna Kassuba's during a snow storm in Gaylord, Michigan. And it took the doctor four days to get there. Joe was a graduate of Ortonville High school. He furthered his education with aerospace degree from Michigan State and MIT School of Engineering. That's the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Joe married Bette Schick on June 27, 1959. In 1960, daughter Cynthia Lee was born in Chicago. Son Joseph Michael was born in Detroit in 1965. Shortly after Bette and Joe were on their next adventure with their meager belongings in their old station wagon and headed to Seattle to accept a position as an aerospace engineer at Boeing.

His first accomplishment at Boeing was to design the vacancy/no vacancy mechanism on the bathroom door of the 707. A concept that was adopted eventually by all planes Boeing manufactured. Another fulfilling success was designing the electric circuitry on the moon buggy that Buzz Aldrin drove on the moon, which is still up there. Joe was also one of the four navigators who developed the AWACS system (Airborne Warning and Control System). To better describe it, it is the huge disk seen on top of airplanes. He served for 26 years on the Boeing Search and Rescue team. He retired from Boeing after 35 years of historical accomplishments.

On July 2, 1997, the love of his life passed away after an 8 year battle with cancer and 38 years of marriage. After four years Joe shared with friends he was tired of living alone and they faithfully prayed he would find a wife who loved the Lord first, loved children, and liked to fish. And then after two years of praying, he met his Thiry Jane at Kiwanis and they were married on Cinco De Mayo, May 5, 2001 and a blended family was born.

Joe and Bette began their spiritual journey as Lutherans and were very involved with the Toronto movement of the Vineyard Church. Joe, along with Jane, was a charter member of the Imago Dei Community church.

Joe has so many personal accomplishments in his 86 years. He was an avid outdoorsman. He climbed Mt. Rainier 11 times. He kayaked 700 miles of the Yukon River with a friend one summer arriving at their final destination of Dawson City in the Yukon Territory. He has climbed Stewart Mountain with daughter Cindy many times. Baker Lake was another favorite recreational destination the family and campfire girls enjoyed frequently where they spent many hours of hiking and camping and learning practical survival skills.

Joe loved to tell fish stories…and he was one. He loved spending hours on his boat fishing for salmon, halibut, rockfish, and lingcod. He had never met a fish he didn't like. He found enjoyment in watching the whales too. You could also find him out in H.I.S. Rod Shop designing and building his next fishing rod. He was very generous, giving three to five custom fishing rods away to children during the annual sportsman's show. Each grandchild will also tell you they have one too.

Joe is survived by Wife Thiry Jane, Sisters Denise Peters and Connie Knibbe, Sons Joe, Jeff, and Chip; Daughters Cindy, Julie, and Nikki, 14 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren.

He was a wonderful and wise man. Loved by all.

To express your condolences please visit his tribute wall.