“They lived and laughed and loved and left” ~ James Joyce
The family of Joseph Stephen Loroff is sad to announce his passing. Joseph was born on September 27, 1966 in Fort William. He lived in Westfort, Ontario all of his life.
He attended St. Ann School, Westgate High School and Confederation College, where he received the Gold Medal upon graduating from his program.
Known as a precise technical thinker and brilliant trouble-shooter, Joseph worked as an Instrumentation Technician for 21 years at Erco Worldwide. Special assignments saw Joseph work on commissioning chemical plants in Inner Mongolia and Chile. He was a Lifelong member of St. Agnes Parish and a member of the Knights of Columbus. Joseph loved his family, and had intense pride for his children’s accomplishments, character and talents.
He loved to be with friends and family, and served as the primary force for keeping family connections strong. He particularly enjoyed camping with his family at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, and seeing his son Michael “outhike” him. Joseph had an amazing laugh – unexpected at times, and totally contagious.
He told great stories, and had an adventurous spirit. He was always interested in what you had to say; a profound listener, he was wise beyond compare. Joseph held himself to very high standards, and expected the same from others.
His moral compass was well established and visible. He was known fondly to family, friends and acquaintances simply as “cousin Joe”: a testament to his endearing character and profound empathy.
“Cousin Joe” took great joy in all things family. He reveled in kitchen parties (of both Irish and German varieties), Christmas gatherings, summer BBQ’s, picnics and it was an even better if someone was playing an instrument. Gifted with a prodigious memory, he was the loyal keeper of all cherished family memories and oft called upon to retrieve the long ago details or the make, model, colour and serial number of your first bicycle.
A precision technical thinker and brilliant troubleshooter with infinite patience and grace, Joseph served as the family “fixer” of anything broken. He will be dearly missed by his wife, Colleen, children Lauren, Kaylyn and Michael, sister Ann-Marie, Eric (Meghan and Evan) Cline, sister Karen, David (Michael and Matthew) Shalley, Cousin Brad (Rae-Lyn) Loroff and Peter (Diane) Boyle, their children, a large extended family and many friends. Joseph is predeceased by his parents Arthur and Anne, dear aunts, uncles and cousins.
A funeral mass will be held in memory of Joseph on Friday, December 11, 2015 at 12:10 pm at St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church with Father James Panikulam officiating. Cremation has taken place. A private Interment will be held at a later date.
Joseph Loroff will be remembered in the Blake Funeral Chapel Memorial Grove. Annual dedication service Sunday, June 12, 2016.
