CELEBRATION OF JOE SEROKA's Life: Sunday May 28, 2023

Joe and Jean have had potluck picnics at their Riverland park along the Susquehanna River in Otego for a lot of years and this year in addition to watching the canoe races and having a potluck dinner, we will share memories and stories about Joe where he spent so many happy hours transferring a mostly abandoned field into a beautiful park we call Riverland.

We are renting a tent with tables and chairs so if Mother Nature decides it will be a not so friendly weather day, we can be out of the inclement weather. There will be a rent-a-jon (we are upgrading in Joe's honor). The canoes and kayaks begin arriving by our land in late morning. We like to cheer on the racers with noise makers, so if you like doing this, bring your lawn chairs, sunscreen, bug repellent and noise makers and hang out by the river.

We will have a pot-luck picnic around 1:00. If you want to eat with us, bring one of your favorite picnic foods, your tableware and beverage. We will have bottled water. There will be ice to keep the food cold.

Around 2:00 or whenever we finish eating, we will have a time for storytelling to share favorite stories about Joe, who provided his family and friends with many memorable stories. As you all know, Joe was a one-of-a-kind guy. We will have photos and hope you will bring photos if you have them, and will have written stories his family will be able to keep. We look forward to spending this time together to remember Joe for the fun guy he was.

If you need directions in finding Riverland, let Jean know and she will send them to you. This is very casual dress – wear comfortable shoes as the ground is uneven.

Please let Jean know by May 15 if you are coming so we are sure to have a large enough tent to shelter everyone.

Any questions?  Call Jean at 607-988-7007 or email jjwilser3@yahoo.com

OTEGO - Joe Seroka died at home with his family on Labor Day, September 5, 2022. He worked hard all his life until his health began deteriorating, so we think this was a very fitting day for him to leave us.

He was the son of Mary and Joseph Seroka, and grandson of Italian, Polish and White Russian immigrants. Joe was born September 19, 1940 in Little Falls, NY. He spent his childhood with his parents and lived next door to his Italian grandparents. After school, Joe stayed with his grandmother and ate supper with his grandparents who ate early and after he went home had a second supper with his parents who ate later. He thought everybody had 2 dinners every night.

Joe grew up surrounded by many family members and lifelong friends. During his high school years, he played varsity soccer, basketball and baseball and in 1985 was elected to the Fort Plain Athletic Hall of Fame. Joe graduated from Fort Plain Central School in 1958 and spent his next 2 years at Canton Tech in NY where he received an associate's degree in drafting and design in 1960. During summers he worked at Adlers Creamery in Fort Plain, did blacktopping with Otsquago Construction Company, and maintenance work on the Erie Canal in Amsterdam. Joe was a catcher for the Fort Plain Nelliston semi pro baseball team with the Tri Town League from 1958 to 1961.

Joe entered SUNY Oneonta in 1961, and during these busy student years played varsity soccer with Garth Stam, met Jean Wilson in an Earth Science class, married, and had 2 sons before graduating with a BS degree in Elementary Education in 1966. After his graduation he was hired by Gilbertsville Central School to teach 6th grade and coach Boys JV basketball. In 1970 he started the Boys varsity soccer team and coached that team for 10 years, and for many years coached the JV basketball team. One year he filled in as coach for the girls' varsity soccer team when his friend, Cheryl, the coach, was ill and couldn't coach that year. In 2004 he was elected to the Tri-Valley Hall of Fame for Outstanding Achievements in Sports at Gilbertsville-Mount Upton Central School from 1967 to 1991. In 1970 Joe was awarded the Outstanding Young Educator Award given by the New Berlin Jaycees.

Joe and Jean have 3 children: Jeffrey, Glenn and Lee Anne, adding John Viscosi when he and Lee Anne married. Grandchildren Mike, Jade and Nicholas, and great grandchildren Darren, Jack and Willow came later. Joe and Jean are both only children, so there are not a lot of family members, but they have acquired many wonderful friends. Along the way Joe and Jean managed Crystal Lake campground in Garrattsville, NY for 8 summers, ushered for Glimmerglass Festival and Catskill Symphony Orchestra for many years, enjoyed the outings and friendships of ADK and wonderful trips with Jay's Real People travel group. In 2001 they purchased 9 acres of land along the Susquehanna River in Otego, which they call Riverland. This became a retirement project of converting abandoned fields into a wildlife haven, planting hundreds of trees and flowers, putting up bird houses and of Joe single handedly building a stone wall and steps which allows access to the river they enjoyed exploring in their canoe. This Riverland has been the place of many happy Memorial Day picnics while watching the annual canoe races from Cooperstown to Bainbridge.

Joe has been a Hospice volunteer, member of the Catskill Regional Teacher Center Policy Board, CSO Advisory Board, Otego Harris Memorial Library Board, the Otego Village Planning Board, a volunteer tax preparer for the AARP for many years, delivered for Meals on Wheels in Otego and worked at the Otego Evergreen Cemetery.

There will be no calling hours or ceremony. Please remember Joe in your own way and if you have favorite stories of Joe, his family would love to hear them. Joe's ashes will be scattered by his family on Riverland and placed in the Fort Plain cemetery where his parents are buried. He was a one of a kind guy who will be greatly missed.

If you wish to honor Joe, he asked that donations be made to ADK, 814 Goggins Rd., Lake George, NY 12845, American Heart Association, 125 Business Park Rd. # 106, Utica, NY 13502, Catskill Symphony Orchestra, PO Box 14, Oneonta, NY 13820, Glimmerglass Festival, PO Box 191, Cooperstown, NY 13326, Helios Care, 297 River St. Service Rd., Oneonta, or Susquehanna SPCA, 5082-5088 State Hwy 28, Cooperstown, NY 13326.

To share a condolence, story or photo, visit, www.lhpfuneralhome.com; the website of Oneonta's only family-owned funeral home, Lewis, Hurley & Pietrobono at 51 Dietz Street.