Joseph Andrew Zaremba

Joseph Andrew Zaremba, known to his family and close friends as “Jibber,” was ushered into eternal life on January 12th, 2021. His 70 years were spent with family and friends who will forever remember his powerful presence in their lives. Born to Louise and Joseph Zaremba of Port Washington, New York, on June 14th, 1950, Joe was the oldest of five children. He attended St. Peter’s Elementary School, Schreiber High School, and Colgate University on his path to becoming a very successful salesman and manager in the New York City and East Coast regional commercial flooring markets. With his first wife, Susan Gale, he proudly welcomed his son Peter and daughter Christine into the world. He later married Elizabeth Zakor, and he celebrated his love for her and her extended family to the fullest. Then his three grandsons Bodhin, Mateo, and Dilyn brought him a renewed sense of pride, duty, and purpose in the last decade of his life. The Zaremba family recalls Joe’s acts of service to others as one way he expressed his love. He kept the extended family connected through reunions and celebrations, cared for his aging parents through weekly trips from the New York City area to Northeast Pennsylvania, supported his children and grandchildren as a selfless caregiver, gave time and talent to local schools, and lived his faith in the church communities he embraced. Joe would happily caulk your bathtub, paint your ceilings, prune your hedges, attend your big game or event, upgrade your insulation, and organize your basement with binder clips, zip ties, and plastic bins of all shapes and sizes. In the great Polish tradition, he’d prepare the most delicious and satisfying meals for anyone who could make room for a bite to eat. In fact, he would regularly carry up to 20 pounds of NYC’s best kielbasa on cross-country flights to visit family and friends, a responsibility taken seriously as a founding member of the New York City Sandwich Police. No act of love was too big or too small, and anyone who knew him well can name at least one way he improved their lives through his sense of service to others. A deeply empathetic man, Joe suffered when he believed that he had caused harm in any way. He made reconciliation with himself and others, possible for him through the transformational power of Christ, the predominant theme of his later years. Joe’s life proved that God’s love never fails to transform the seeker, and that it is never too late to atone for the past and elevate love, service, and goodness in this lifetime. His legacy of love, family, and friendships, and his examples of selfless service, steadfast faith, humility, reconciliation, and salvation are lasting and irrefutable proof that he has been blessed with the key to God’s Kingdom. Joe loved sports of all kinds. He excelled in rugby with the Old Blue Rugby Club of New York, and he was a great golfer, a sport that he was proud to share with his siblings, children, and grandsons. Away from the golf course, Joe was at home in the ocean. If you would like to express your support and condolences through a donation to The Ocean Conservancy https://donate.oceanconservancy.org/page/40745/donate, it would be greatly appreciated. He is survived by his children and grandchildren; Peter Zaremba (wife Erin, sons Bodhin and Mateo) and Christine Donnelly (husband Patrick, son Dilyn); siblings, inlaws, nieces and nephews; Andrew Zaremba (wife Susie, children Zach and Katherine), Maryann Zaremba (children Nicole and James), Thomas Zaremba (wife Julie, sons Drew and Nathan), and Peter Zaremba and Patricia Swarts (children Claire and James); and friends and family too numerous to count, but not forgotten.

Tributes

Joseph Andrew Zaremba

June 14, 1950 - January 12, 2021