Paul Francis Joseph of Wellfleet died on March 17, 2025 at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, where he was taken after a fall. The cause was complications from cancer and dementia. He was 82.
The son of the late Helen and William Joseph, Paul was born on Dec. 9, 1942 in Warren, Ohio, where he grew up with four siblings, two older, one younger, and a twin. As teenagers, Paul and his twin brother, Dave, enjoyed dressing alike and confusing their friends and neighbors, said Paul’s daughter, Colleen.
The family lived in subsidized housing; Colleen recalls her father saying what a big deal it was when they were able to paint the concrete floors in their apartment.
After graduating from Warren G. Harding High School in 1961, Paul and Dave joined the Navy together. Paul trained as a boiler operator and was assigned to the USS Lake Champlain, an Essex-class aircraft carrier operating out of Quonset Point, R.I.
During his four-year enlistment, he spent nearly three years at sea, sweating in the bowels of the ship. But while in port, he met Simonne Morin at a dance at the enlisted man’s club on the base. They married in 1965 and divorced in 1978.
The couple settled in Cumberland, R.I. after Paul’s discharge. He trained as a machinist with the H&H Screw Products Manufacturing Co. in Lincoln, R.I., working there into the 1970s. But he grew tired of the foul air and unhygienic working conditions as a screw machinist; he changed direction and completed a computer technology training program at the Control Data Institute in Burlington in 1973.
Paul’s first computer job was with Data General doing hardware maintenance as a field service engineer in the company’s Southborough facility. Colleen remembers sitting on top of the cleaning cart as her father wheeled it from computer to computer to clean the surfaces with alcohol. He earned an associate’s degree in applied technology from Worcester Junior College in 1988.
An active man, Paul joined a ski group, becoming quite skilled, and he bowled in a local league, both sponsored by Data General. He also enjoyed golf and shooting pool. At Data General, he met Martha Gorman, who became a lifelong friend and cared for him in his final years.
Paul left Data General for the Digital Equipment Corp., working as a hardware troubleshooter in the engineering department before taking a job with Excel Switching in Sagamore. When the company relocated to Hyannis, Paul moved to Wellfleet in 1996, and when it was bought and restructured by Lucent Industries, he retired in 2004 at 62.
In retirement, Paul continued to do what he had always done, “an honest day’s work,” as Colleen put it, while also managing to pursue his love of fishing and boating, and he painstakingly worked a Wellfleet oyster grant. “He had pride in what he did,” Colleen said.
He could also “make anything work again,” she added. “The swap shop was his best friend.” After scoring a year-old lawn mower whose owner had poured oil in the gas tank, he flushed the fuel lines and made it good as new. During a four-day power outage after a hurricane, he fixed a generator with a bicycle tire and a hose clamp. “He could fix anything,” Colleen said.
Paul had a variety of small engines lined up on blocks in his basement to serve as sources for parts for future repairs, often including carburetors for lawn mowers. He could also be relied on to help his friends with construction projects. He was, Colleen said, “a real-life MacGyver.”
He worked in cranberry bogs and served as Wellfleet’s assistant harbormaster for a couple of years. “He always worked the late shift,” Colleen said, “coming home after dark.” He took care of the golf carts at the Chequessett Yacht and Country Club as well, a job that came with free golf as a perk.
He had an artistic side, too: he was a stained-glass craftsman. He loved the Patriots, and he always had pets, most recently his dog, Jackson, a cockatiel, Buster, and a 26-year-old Amazon parrot, Skipper, whom he took care of for 20 years.
“He was my best friend,” said Colleen.
Paul is survived by his friend and companion, Martha Gorman of Wellfleet; his son, Paul Joseph of Cumberland, R.I.; his daughter, Colleen, and son-in-law, John Molt, of Charlestown, R.I.; and his grandsons, Bailey Hogan of Charlestown, R.I. and Casey Hogan of Durham, N.C. His devoted dog, Jackson, and his cockatiel, Buster, miss him.
He was predeceased by his brothers, Bill and Dave, his sisters, Helen and Sister Barbara Joseph OSF, and his former spouse, Simonne Morin.
A celebration of Paul’s life is planned for July.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Paul’s memory to the Lily House in Wellfleet and to Hospice Services of Massachusetts in Lakeville.
