- Date Of Birth: December 29, 1934
- Date Of Death: October 8, 2015
- State: Florida
Joseph (Joe) Daniel Dvorak, 80, of Merritt Island, FL died Thursday afternoon after a year long battle with anemia and a blood disorder.
Born in the small farming town of Pisek, ND in 1934, to Rose and Henry Dvorak, Joe spoke only Czech until the age of 5 when he entered grade school. He shared fond memories of riding along in his father’s oil truck delivering petroleum to farmers on his route for Standard Oil. After graduating from Pisek High School, Joseph attended and graduated from the University of North Dakota with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.
As a newly-graduated engineer, Joe traveled around the country helping activate Atlas ICBM sites during the Cold War. One of the sites was near Topeka, KS where he met his wife of nearly 53 years, Georgia. After a short stint at another missile site in Oklahoma, Joe and his bride moved to California where he joined the Apollo program to put man on the moon. North American Aviation moved Joe to White Sands, NM to help test his systems, then to Florida in 1966 where he was the Systems Specialist for the Fuel Cells power generation system on the moon missions. In 1972 Joe and his wife bought an auto-parts store in Cocoa Beach, and in 1974 he left North American Aviation (Rockwell) to work full-time at their new venture. Joe was once asked to come back to Rockwell, but told his former boss that he was having too much fun at his parts store. Joe worked there seven days a week in the early days, taking his wife and young kids along on Sundays. As the store grew and prospered Joe throttled back a little, but his mind was never far from the parts counter. Joe was among the first in the industry to install a computer to track inventory and sales, and always kept up on the latest technological advances.
Joe and Georgia traveled to many countries in Europe, China, Hawaii and South America. He was the best husband and father in the world. We will all miss him dearly. My dad Joe was by far the best Father a person could ask for. From teaching me how to ride a bike, water ski, work on cars, and countless other lessons, he never lost his temper or gave up. If I could write all the wonderful character traits about my dad, it would be a large book. The world lost a perfect human last Thursday. His loss will never be diminished. I am the LUCKIEST person in the entire world to have had him as my Father. I love you Joe! I miss you and always will.
I recalled how dad taught the kids how to work on cars, his love for homemade bean soup and always coming to the dinner table with a smile! The family would like to thank Hospice at Cape Canaveral Hospital and especially Luanne Hope. Joe is survived by his wife Georgia; three children, Stephanie (Todd) Brandenburg, Daniel (Amy Marie) Dvorak and Amy Lynn Dvorak; grandchildren, Sara and Emma Brandenburg, Joseph, Rose and Daniel Dvorak; Sisters, Henrietta Swartz, Marie Erickson, Evelyn Mychin, Rosalie Kalal and Lucie Sobolik.
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OCT 14.
101 North Brevard Ave.
Cocoa Beach, FL, US, 32931
Mass
OCT 15.
