Patrick Gavaghan Obituary, Death – In the city of Philadelphia, Joe received his education at Lincoln Prep and LaSalle College High School. On August 1, 1942, he tied the knot with Mary Alvey, who was from Philadelphia. He had a combined 43 years of experience working for Reading Railroad and Conrail. After retiring from his positions as general manager of sales at Reading Railroad and coal sales manager for Conrail, he moved into retirement.
Joe joined the United States Army the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, attained the rank of Sergeant, and participated in the European Theater of Operations, during which time he landed on Normandy Beach. He participated in five key wars, including Normandy, Northern France, the Battle of the Bulge, and Central Europe, before finally coming face to face with the Russians in Lintz, Austria, in the year 1945. He was honored with a number of medals, one of which being the Bronze Star medal.
After he got back to the states, he got married and had two children: J. Patrick, who lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Marita Schrauf, who lives in the Village of Lake in the Hills, Illinois. Marita is currently married to John Schrauf, while Pat has tied the knot with Anne Ferebee.
Julie and Debbie Gavaghan, both of Cary, North Carolina, were Joe’s grandchildren, and he also had two great-granddaughters, Sydney and Emily Kalish, both of Cary, North Carolina. Adele Rolly was a longtime companion and confidante of his throughout his life. On April 9, 1980, he was predeceased by his wife, Mary, who passed away first.
Joe was a member of many business and professional organizations, including the Union League of Chicago, the Knights of Columbus, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Moose, the American Legion, the Polish American Club of Vero Beach, and he had previously served as president of the Coal Club of Philadelphia. In his latter years, he held the position of constable in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, and he volunteered for the police department in Sebastian, Florida, for a total of 17 years.