Joseph J Aitken

Joseph James Aitken was born May 15, 1942 in Mount Vernon, New York to parents Daisy and Joseph Anthony Aitken. He was the second of five children: a younger brother to Jessie and an older brother to Barbara, Joyce, and Tommy. Joe was very close with his sisters Jessie & Joyce. When Jessie married Robert D’Onofrio, he found a brother not an in law. Bob and Joe were very close, and Bob was the best man at Joes wedding. To Joyce, Joseph was always her Big Brother Joey. 

 In 1961 Joseph graduated from Edison high school in Mount Vernon and joined the United States Navy. In the Navy Joseph served with honor and distinction as an E3 on the USS Little Rock. 

After the Navy, Joseph worked at Burroughs Welcome where one of his coworkers would change his life. His coworker, Lucy, insisted to the point of badgering that he should meet her niece, Marie. After months and months, Joseph finally relented and agreed to meet her. Joseph and Marie met on a Wednesday, dated that Saturday, and we’re together for the next 59 years, 57 in marriage. Together, they would have three children, Jody, Jennifer, and Anthony. Joseph and Marie found in each other, not only the love of their life but their best friend and remained together up until his death.

In 1968 Joseph fulfilled his dream of becoming a firefighter when he joined the Mount Vernon Fire Department. He served as a firefighter in his hometown for 18 years with honor and was regarded as an excellent firefighter. During this time, he also worked a second job at the Good Humor ice cream company, delivering ice cream to stores across New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. Joseph didn’t mind the work. He never shyed away from hard work and he did it so that he could provide a better life for Marie and the kids. Yes, he was Joe the fireman and Joe the Good Humor Man. His friends would go on to call him Ice Cream Man. 

During his last fire, Joe received an injury while saving the lives of three of his fellow firefighters. Unfortunately, this injury forced Joseph into early retirement, but he received a commendation from the department and his fellow firefighters for his quick action. In his retirement Joseph devoted his life as he always did to his family and in service to others. 

Joseph loved his family above everything else. He loved his children and all of his nieces and nephews. If you ask him, his greatest job was as a husband and father. There was never a day he wasn’t available. There was never a time he wouldn’t sit or help, and there was never a task he wasn’t willing to do to help his children. Joseph was the definition of an amazing dad, a loving husband, and a true gentleman.

Throughout his life, Joseph was always there to help someone whether it be a family member a friend or a complete stranger. If you needed help, he’d be there. He would even take the shirt off his own back if that’s what it took whatever you needed and if he could do it, he would and if he couldn’t, he’d find a way or someone to help get it done. He instilled this belief of being in service to someone in his three children with all of them following careers in the healthcare field. 

Joseph always said you gotta laugh. You gotta find the humor in anything and everything or you’ll just sit in the corner and cry. He did that when he was faced with his biggest challenge of being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. He fought like hell against the disease until it took him on September 1, 2025. He was able to pass at home with his wife and his daughters at his bedside. 

Joseph will be missed beyond measure by his family and friends. He is proceeded to heaven by his mother and father, his sister Barbara, and his sister Joyce. He is survived by his wife, Marie, his daughter Jody and her husband John Fatolitis, his daughter Jennifer, and his son Anthony and his wife Anna.

“The only thing you truly own in this life is your name. And it’s worth is not measured in money but by the person you are.” - Joseph J Aitken.