Joseph Visotski, 87, passed away on July 31st, 2022. He was born in 1934 in Throop PA to loving parents- Mary (Krulewicz) and Gustav Visotski.
Joseph attended South Side High School before his family moved to Hillside, New Jersey for his senior year. He was a member of Vito ‘Hockey’ Robertozzi‘s semi-pro football and baseball teams, the Newark EastEnders (tight end and middle linebacker) and also Hockey’s Comets (a switch hitting catcher winning three North Jersey semi pro baseball league batting titles three years straight).
Mr. Visotski enlisted in the US Army at Fort Bragg, NC and eventually graduated Airborne Jump School in Fort Benning, GA and became a member of the 82nd airborne. After transferring from North Carolina State where he played football, he then graduated Upsala College in East Orange, NJ with a degree in history and philosophy. His team was named third team All East in football (two way starter at guard and middle linebacker) and he also lettered in track and field (440 yd hurdles), basketball (point guard) and baseball (catcher).
After graduation he began a career teaching history, first in Manville, NJ and then moving to Newark, where he was a football coach at Saint Benedicts serving on legendary Joe Kasberger’s staff. Mr. Visotski moved on to Southside Newark High School where he was football and basketball coach, and ultimately became the Athletic Director of Malcolm X Shabazz High School.
Jospeh was a proponent of equal rights and he eventually became a union official, delegate, and Executive Vice President and Director of the Newark Teachers Union. For 18 years, he was a member of the inaugural CEBS (certified employee benefits specialist) from the Wharton School of Business. He spent two decades traveling the world to attend trade conferences, lectures, classes, and negotiate labor contract disputes worldwide.
In 1968, Mr. Visotski initiated the Newark public school swimming program. He would take students who wanted to learn to swim and give them lessons at the YMCA. During the summer, the students would work at swimming pools erected in the parking lots of six Newark high schools. The students ran concession stands, learned how to repair and construct the pools, and worked as lifeguards- it was a wonderful program.
He also ran the driver’s education program and was Director of the Newark school system IT and social studies departments during the 1990s. He directed a juvenile education program for Wayward youth, Joseph mentored and sponsored over 300 Newark students during his career. Joseph was a member of St. Margaret’s of Scotland Catholic Church in Morristown, NJ.
Joseph correspondingly served on the Board of Directors of the Hunterton State school for the mentally challenged and the Edna Mahan correctional facility. He was a lifelong patron of the arts and was deeply involved with the Metropolitan Opera of New York and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC.
Mr. Visotski was a voracious reader and never grew tired of personal knowledge and growth. He was fond of saying “I am allergic to only two things, ignorance and stupidity.” He was a family man and deeply loved his wife and family, he also enjoyed gardening and travelling (he visited 78 countries!)
A life well lived and well remembered forever.
Joseph is predecease by his wife of 56 years, Maria Rachel (Robertozzi) and his brother Leonard.
He is survived by his sons, Joseph J of Mattapoisett, MA and William V of Sarasota, FL and his sister, MaryAnn Disabato.
Billy and family,
I just learned of Joe’s passing this morning when I did a search on him to see if I could find out information about how he was doing. As his next door neighbor for more than 30 years, I enjoyed Joe. He was my “Wilson” — friend across the fence even after the fence came down. His wit and sense of humor was incredibly sharp. We could have a very fun conversation about essentially nothing — the foxes running lose in the yard, my garden, the deer, his vegetables, his fruit trees. That said, there are so many details in his obituary that I didn’t know. He was an amazing man who lived an incredible life. Joe and Mary were so generous in letting my sons use your pool.
Billy, I hope you are doing well.
All the best, Mike and family
So sorry to read Joe passed away. He was such a nice. Man. He, Mary and my husband Fred Hall are all deceased now. We were very good friends.
Prayers of comfort to his two Sons.