Joseph Austin
Navarro, 83, longtime resident of Topsfield Road, died peacefully
Saturday,
November 6, 2010 at the New Hanover
Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, NC following an extended
illness.
Born
October
18, 1927 in Saugus, he was the son of the late Joseph and Edith (DiPietro)
Navarro. He was raised in Saugus and graduated from Saugus High
School. He enlisted in the United States Navy and served aboard the
U.S.S.
Providence and the U.S.S.
Portsmouth during World War II in the Mediterranean theatre.
He later graduated from Burdette School of Business and was employed
by Raytheon for several years. In 1970, Governor
Sargent appointed him to a position in
the Dept. of Community Affairs, which he held for many years.
He moved to
Ipswich
in 1959 with his former wife Carolyn Butler Navarro and raised their
family here. He served three terms on the Board of Selectman from
1966 to 1975 and was the Chairman of the Board from 1971 until 1974.
He also served as Chairman of the Waterways Ways Study Committee in
1977. He was a member of the Staff Sergeant Arthur F.
DeFranzo VFW Post 2346 in Saugus. He
enjoyed many summers fishing and clamming on his boat and camping at
White Lake with his family.
He is survived by
his three children, two daughters Terry Manning and her husband
Larry of Ipswich and Sandy Navarro of
Ipswich and one
son, James Navarro of New York. He is also survived by three
granddaughters, Nicole and Robin Moody of Wilmington, NC and Stacey
Moody of Ipswich, one great-granddaughter, Sophia Buckingham of
Wilmington, NC, one brother, Robert Navarro and his wife Nancy of
Saco, ME, and several nieces, nephews and cousins.
A graveside
service will be held at
Riverside Cemetery in Saugus on
Saturday November 27th at 11am. Relatives and friends are
respectfully invited. Visiting hours will be Friday November 26 from
5 to 8 pm at the Whittier Porter Funeral Home, 6 High Street,
Ipswich.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the
American Cancer
Society,
P.O. Box 22718,
Oklahoma City, OK 73123-1718.
