Joe’s Creator called him home early Christmas morning after a 14-year battle with a rare form of cancer (pheochromocytoma). Please join us as we pray for the repose of Joe’s soul. Visitation will be held at Allen Mortuary Chapel in Turlock on January 15th, Monday from 3pm to 5pm and will conclude with the rosary. On Tuesday, January 16th, the funeral mass will be celebrated at Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church in Turlock at 10:30am followed by the burial at Turlock Memorial Park and concluding with a reception at Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church Hall.
Joe was born in Marin County, California on July 20, 1949. He was the youngest of 6 children. When he was one year old, his family moved to Santa Rosa where they had purchased a dairy. It was there he grew up.
He graduated from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo in 1971 and then graduated from veterinary school at UC Davis in 1975. After graduation, he moved to Turlock where he was associated with Lander Veterinary Clinic for 26 years.
In 1980, he married Karen Clausen, a life-long resident of Turlock. They had four children: Michele (Drew- Georgia), Matthew (Emily- Ohio), David (Lizzie- Oklahoma) and Kathryn (Ramon- Turlock). After 14 years of marriage, Karen died of a brain tumor. In 2009, Joe married Mercedes Mondragón of Turlock, formerly of Los Angeles. Joe was blessed with 14 grandchildren.
Joe requested that his personal biographical notes in this obituary should be kept reasonably brief and that it should end with the following story which expresses his own sentiments as well.
Since 1633, the Habsburg emperors of the Austro-Hungarian Empire were interred in the Imperial Crypt under the Capuchin Church in Vienna, Austria. Joe visited there in 2006 and 2009. By royal standards, this church-monastery is very modest and inconspicuous. The crypt has been in the care of the monks at that Capuchin cloister.
It has been a long tradition that when the casket of a deceased Habsburg was brought to the Capuchin Church, a ceremony would take place before the remains were allowed in. This ceremony last occurred in 2011 for Otto von Habsburg, the last Crowned Prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Accompanying Otto’s casket, the master of ceremonies knocked three times on the door. The Capuchin monk who was custodian of the Imperial Crypt called out from behind the closed door, “Who requests entry?” The master of ceremonies responded by listing dozens of Otto’s earthly titles. The voice from behind the doors answered, “We know him not.”
Again, the master of ceremonies knocked three times on the door and again the custodian asked, “Who requests entry?” The master of ceremonies again replied listing many more of the Crowned Prince’s titles. Again, the reply came: “We know him not.”
A third time, the master of ceremonies knocked three times on the door and again the custodian asked, “Who requests entry?” This time the response was, “Otto, a mortal and sinful man.” The final reply was, “Then let him come in.” The door then opened.
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