Mr. Josef "Opa" "Joe" Luerken Obituary (1924

ATTLEBORO - Josef “Opa” “Joe” Luerken was born January 25, 1924 in Stolberg Germany, son of the late Eduard and Hildegard Luerken. After a complicated recovery effort from an injury sustained in March, Josef passed away on September 4, 2014 at the age of 90 at Life Care Center of Attleboro. At age 14, in 1938, Joe was in the top 1% of his class. He was taken out of academic school and sent to attend military school as an honor. There he was taught to engineer, maintain, and repair blimps and planes during WWII. During his military service, he continued to develop his engineering skills which prepared him for his future success. On the day the war ended in May 1945, he was captured and taken as a POW. He was finally released 4 years later on Christmas day, 1949. While in Germany, he met his wife Susanne “Susie” Luerken in 1953, fell in love, and proposed to her 6 weeks later. Together they followed Josef’s sister Trudy Donnelly and her husband, the late Everett Donnelly, to America and began their lives here. This year on May 26, they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Josef is survived by his wife and 4 children- Walter Luerken, Monica Bourgette, Paul Luerken, and Elizabeth Luerken; 4 grandchildren, Katrina Ventola, Scott Bourgette, Stephanie Luerken, and Katherine Luerken; and 2 great grandchildren, Natalie Ventola and Hannah Ventola. He is also survived by many friends and relatives both in Stolberg, Germany and in the greater Attleboro area. Josef and his family have been residents of Attleboro since they arrived in America. Josef worked at Texas Instruments in Attleboro for 25 years before becoming a working owner/engineer of Ominimet and Atlantic Alloys. After reluctantly retiring, he remained a consultant for Atlantic Alloys until age 77. He was extremely devoted to the Catholic faith. He worshiped at Holy Ghost Church, and was a Eucharistic minister there for many years. After taking part in the perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament on Wednesday afternoons at Saint Josephs Church, Joe and Susie became regulars at Bliss Brothers in Attleboro. Everyone at Bliss knew him by name, as he always had Susie on one arm and her purse on the other. Joe and Susie took many vacations to Cape Cod- you would notice him there as the man with two umbrellas and two beach chairs balancing him out as he walked from their cottage to the beach. These are just two small examples of how he would do anything for Susie, or anyone. Other destinations they traveled to, often with friends, include Aruba, Portugal, Costa Rica, an Alaskan cruise, and of course back to Germany. He could sing beautifully and was a member of a men’s German chorus call the Schubert Choir. Of his many talents, he could play the harmonica and even continued to do so to please the great grand children. Along with his passions of church, traveling, and music he loved the outdoors and climbing on the roof to clean the gutters well into his 70’s! He would spend most evenings reading the newspaper, completing crossword puzzles, watching jeopardy and the Boston Red Sox. He enjoyed playing board games like mensch Arge DICH nicht or card games like Crazy 8’s or Rummy. He was a quiet, tender hearted, caring man. If you asked him what he wanted for Christmas and birthday gifts, it was always the same, “peace”. He is so deeply loved and will be missed dearly. Visitation will be held privately. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2014 at 10 a.m. in St. Vincent de Paul Parish (formerly Holy Ghost Church), 71 Linden Street, Attleboro. Burial will follow in St. John’s Cemetery, Attleboro. In lieu of flowers, donations in Josef’s name may be made to the La Salette Shrine, 947 Park St, Attleboro, MA 02703.