Joseph Meyer Steinberg was the youngest of five children of David Adam Steinberg and Marie Elizabeth Meyer Steinberg. He never married. He served in the US Army in WW II. He loved playing the clarinet.
Long Beach Press-Telegram/Saturday Feb 16, 1985
Joseph M. Steinberg, 59; retired L.B. mail carrier
Joseph M. Steinberg, a recently retired veteran mail carrier with the post office in Long Beach, died Wednesday at his home. He was 59 years old. He was born in Lebanon, Mo., served with the Army's Black Hawk (86th) Division in World War II and came to Long Beach in 1946. Steinberg joined the post office in 1955 and worked out of the Spring Carrier Annex. He retired in 1983. He was a member of the First United Methodist Church, Masonic Service Lodge 594 and Long Beach Lodge 888 BPOE. Survivors include sisters, Jeanette Steinberg and Alberta Joiner of Long Beach, and Bettie Garrison of Phoenix, Ariz.; brother David Steinberg of Climax Springs, Mo.; and five nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. today at the Stricklin/Snively Chapel, 1952 Long Beach Blvd., Long Beach. The Rev. Merle V. Bailey of the First United Methodist Church will officiate. Interment will be in Lebanon, Mo. Arrangements are under direction of the Stricklin/Snively Mortuary.
******* Biography by Bettie Steinberg Garrison *** 1988 ************
JOSEPH
When Joe was born, the rest of us were sent to a neighbor's house to spend the night. I was excited the next day to learn that I had a baby brother but disappointed that I had missed seeing the stork.
Joe was a cute, happy, little boy. We didn't play together very much, probably because he was too little to be included in the neighborhood activities that involved David and the bigger kids. I was lucky to be let in. I was four grades ahead of Joe, which meant that I didn't see much of him at school. There was enough age difference that we didn't run into conflicts with chore assignments.
Joe had a love of music and a natural talent. He didn't receive any music lessons but by the time he was in the eighth grade he was playing first clarinet in the high school band. He had taught himself. The family used to think that surely he would be a star hitter with the Cardinals because he spent hours in the street batting rocks. The fact that he never hit a car with one of those rocks is one of life's miracles.
Joe started to high school the year I started to junior college, so I really didn't see much of him for three years. He was on the high school football team for a couple of years, but the war and gas rationing made travel impossible. High school teams were disbanded. I'm sure that was a disappointment for him. He was popular in high school but resented the fact that he didn't have the same financial backing as his friends.
The year I was home and working at Ft. Leonard Wood was Joe's senior year in high school. He made life very unpleasant for Mother and Daddy. He resented them and their position and was very vocal about it. We should have realized that he was beginning to have emotional problems, but hindsight has 20-20 vision. I attributed his actions to the fact that he was Mother's baby.
After high school, Joe joined or was drafted into the army. He took some special army engineer training to qualify for a special assignment. By the time he finished the training, the Army had abolished the position. He was put in the infantry. He spent several months in Europe, came home after VE-day, and was immediately shipped to the Philippines.
After his discharge from the Army, he, too, went to California. He attended Long Beach Junior College and Redlands University, but had difficulty directing his energies. He changed majors several times. He had several jobs. None of them challenged him, or used his talents, or suited him.
About 1949 or 1950, Joe was hospitalized with a complete mental breakdown. He was in the hospital for approximately 2 years. I don't think any cause was ever pinpointed. There are probably several possible causes - the age of his parents, his lack of financial base, his military career which was repugnant to him, or something no one has even guessed. I feel his emotional instability undermined his academic endeavors. He couldn't keep on one track. Joe was given shock treatment for his illness. I suspect, but have no clinical proof, that the shock treatments may have been the cause of his slow response and inability to make decisions. Those were not characteristics that he had as a child.
After being discharged from the hospital, he found that he could not get a job. His employment record before his hospitalization and the very fact that he had been hospitalized for an emotional breakdown made him untouchable in the job market. His therapist advised to take any job he could get and hang on to it no matter how distasteful it might be. That way he would at least have something positive on his record. He finally passed the Post Office exam.
Joe kept the Post Office job until his retirement in 1983. I don't think he ever really liked the job, but he did come to terms with it. He realized there were some benefits. He was very popular with his customers. During these years he played with the Elks band and the VFW band. He bought a home and had a real talent for growing plants and an interest in grafting trees. He never married, but had a lady friend for over thirty years.
Joe died February 13, 1985 of lung cancer. He had probably been a smoker since high school days or soon after. Maybe heredity had more to do with the cancer that the cigarettes. Or, maybe it was a combination.
Long Beach Press-Telegram/Saturday Feb 16, 1985
Joseph M. Steinberg, 59; retired L.B. mail carrier
Joseph M. Steinberg, a recently retired veteran mail carrier with the post office in Long Beach, died Wednesday at his home. He was 59 years old. He was born in Lebanon, Mo., served with the Army's Black Hawk (86th) Division in World War II and came to Long Beach in 1946. Steinberg joined the post office in 1955 and worked out of the Spring Carrier Annex. He retired in 1983. He was a member of the First United Methodist Church, Masonic Service Lodge 594 and Long Beach Lodge 888 BPOE. Survivors include sisters, Jeanette Steinberg and Alberta Joiner of Long Beach, and Bettie Garrison of Phoenix, Ariz.; brother David Steinberg of Climax Springs, Mo.; and five nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. today at the Stricklin/Snively Chapel, 1952 Long Beach Blvd., Long Beach. The Rev. Merle V. Bailey of the First United Methodist Church will officiate. Interment will be in Lebanon, Mo. Arrangements are under direction of the Stricklin/Snively Mortuary.
******* Biography by Bettie Steinberg Garrison *** 1988 ************
JOSEPH
When Joe was born, the rest of us were sent to a neighbor's house to spend the night. I was excited the next day to learn that I had a baby brother but disappointed that I had missed seeing the stork.
Joe was a cute, happy, little boy. We didn't play together very much, probably because he was too little to be included in the neighborhood activities that involved David and the bigger kids. I was lucky to be let in. I was four grades ahead of Joe, which meant that I didn't see much of him at school. There was enough age difference that we didn't run into conflicts with chore assignments.
Joe had a love of music and a natural talent. He didn't receive any music lessons but by the time he was in the eighth grade he was playing first clarinet in the high school band. He had taught himself. The family used to think that surely he would be a star hitter with the Cardinals because he spent hours in the street batting rocks. The fact that he never hit a car with one of those rocks is one of life's miracles.
Joe started to high school the year I started to junior college, so I really didn't see much of him for three years. He was on the high school football team for a couple of years, but the war and gas rationing made travel impossible. High school teams were disbanded. I'm sure that was a disappointment for him. He was popular in high school but resented the fact that he didn't have the same financial backing as his friends.
The year I was home and working at Ft. Leonard Wood was Joe's senior year in high school. He made life very unpleasant for Mother and Daddy. He resented them and their position and was very vocal about it. We should have realized that he was beginning to have emotional problems, but hindsight has 20-20 vision. I attributed his actions to the fact that he was Mother's baby.
After high school, Joe joined or was drafted into the army. He took some special army engineer training to qualify for a special assignment. By the time he finished the training, the Army had abolished the position. He was put in the infantry. He spent several months in Europe, came home after VE-day, and was immediately shipped to the Philippines.
After his discharge from the Army, he, too, went to California. He attended Long Beach Junior College and Redlands University, but had difficulty directing his energies. He changed majors several times. He had several jobs. None of them challenged him, or used his talents, or suited him.
About 1949 or 1950, Joe was hospitalized with a complete mental breakdown. He was in the hospital for approximately 2 years. I don't think any cause was ever pinpointed. There are probably several possible causes - the age of his parents, his lack of financial base, his military career which was repugnant to him, or something no one has even guessed. I feel his emotional instability undermined his academic endeavors. He couldn't keep on one track. Joe was given shock treatment for his illness. I suspect, but have no clinical proof, that the shock treatments may have been the cause of his slow response and inability to make decisions. Those were not characteristics that he had as a child.
After being discharged from the hospital, he found that he could not get a job. His employment record before his hospitalization and the very fact that he had been hospitalized for an emotional breakdown made him untouchable in the job market. His therapist advised to take any job he could get and hang on to it no matter how distasteful it might be. That way he would at least have something positive on his record. He finally passed the Post Office exam.
Joe kept the Post Office job until his retirement in 1983. I don't think he ever really liked the job, but he did come to terms with it. He realized there were some benefits. He was very popular with his customers. During these years he played with the Elks band and the VFW band. He bought a home and had a real talent for growing plants and an interest in grafting trees. He never married, but had a lady friend for over thirty years.
Joe died February 13, 1985 of lung cancer. He had probably been a smoker since high school days or soon after. Maybe heredity had more to do with the cancer that the cigarettes. Or, maybe it was a combination.
Joseph Meyer Steinberg was the youngest of five children of David Adam Steinberg and Marie Elizabeth Meyer Steinberg. He never married. He served in the US Army in WW II. He loved playing the clarinet.
Long Beach Press-Telegram/Saturday Feb 16, 1985
Joseph M. Steinberg, 59; retired L.B. mail carrier
Joseph M. Steinberg, a recently retired veteran mail carrier with the post office in Long Beach, died Wednesday at his home. He was 59 years old. He was born in Lebanon, Mo., served with the Army's Black Hawk (86th) Division in World War II and came to Long Beach in 1946. Steinberg joined the post office in 1955 and worked out of the Spring Carrier Annex. He retired in 1983. He was a member of the First United Methodist Church, Masonic Service Lodge 594 and Long Beach Lodge 888 BPOE. Survivors include sisters, Jeanette Steinberg and Alberta Joiner of Long Beach, and Bettie Garrison of Phoenix, Ariz.; brother David Steinberg of Climax Springs, Mo.; and five nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. today at the Stricklin/Snively Chapel, 1952 Long Beach Blvd., Long Beach. The Rev. Merle V. Bailey of the First United Methodist Church will officiate. Interment will be in Lebanon, Mo. Arrangements are under direction of the Stricklin/Snively Mortuary.
******* Biography by Bettie Steinberg Garrison *** 1988 ************
JOSEPH
When Joe was born, the rest of us were sent to a neighbor's house to spend the night. I was excited the next day to learn that I had a baby brother but disappointed that I had missed seeing the stork.
Joe was a cute, happy, little boy. We didn't play together very much, probably because he was too little to be included in the neighborhood activities that involved David and the bigger kids. I was lucky to be let in. I was four grades ahead of Joe, which meant that I didn't see much of him at school. There was enough age difference that we didn't run into conflicts with chore assignments.
Joe had a love of music and a natural talent. He didn't receive any music lessons but by the time he was in the eighth grade he was playing first clarinet in the high school band. He had taught himself. The family used to think that surely he would be a star hitter with the Cardinals because he spent hours in the street batting rocks. The fact that he never hit a car with one of those rocks is one of life's miracles.
Joe started to high school the year I started to junior college, so I really didn't see much of him for three years. He was on the high school football team for a couple of years, but the war and gas rationing made travel impossible. High school teams were disbanded. I'm sure that was a disappointment for him. He was popular in high school but resented the fact that he didn't have the same financial backing as his friends.
The year I was home and working at Ft. Leonard Wood was Joe's senior year in high school. He made life very unpleasant for Mother and Daddy. He resented them and their position and was very vocal about it. We should have realized that he was beginning to have emotional problems, but hindsight has 20-20 vision. I attributed his actions to the fact that he was Mother's baby.
After high school, Joe joined or was drafted into the army. He took some special army engineer training to qualify for a special assignment. By the time he finished the training, the Army had abolished the position. He was put in the infantry. He spent several months in Europe, came home after VE-day, and was immediately shipped to the Philippines.
After his discharge from the Army, he, too, went to California. He attended Long Beach Junior College and Redlands University, but had difficulty directing his energies. He changed majors several times. He had several jobs. None of them challenged him, or used his talents, or suited him.
About 1949 or 1950, Joe was hospitalized with a complete mental breakdown. He was in the hospital for approximately 2 years. I don't think any cause was ever pinpointed. There are probably several possible causes - the age of his parents, his lack of financial base, his military career which was repugnant to him, or something no one has even guessed. I feel his emotional instability undermined his academic endeavors. He couldn't keep on one track. Joe was given shock treatment for his illness. I suspect, but have no clinical proof, that the shock treatments may have been the cause of his slow response and inability to make decisions. Those were not characteristics that he had as a child.
After being discharged from the hospital, he found that he could not get a job. His employment record before his hospitalization and the very fact that he had been hospitalized for an emotional breakdown made him untouchable in the job market. His therapist advised to take any job he could get and hang on to it no matter how distasteful it might be. That way he would at least have something positive on his record. He finally passed the Post Office exam.
Joe kept the Post Office job until his retirement in 1983. I don't think he ever really liked the job, but he did come to terms with it. He realized there were some benefits. He was very popular with his customers. During these years he played with the Elks band and the VFW band. He bought a home and had a real talent for growing plants and an interest in grafting trees. He never married, but had a lady friend for over thirty years.
Joe died February 13, 1985 of lung cancer. He had probably been a smoker since high school days or soon after. Maybe heredity had more to do with the cancer that the cigarettes. Or, maybe it was a combination.
Long Beach Press-Telegram/Saturday Feb 16, 1985
Joseph M. Steinberg, 59; retired L.B. mail carrier
Joseph M. Steinberg, a recently retired veteran mail carrier with the post office in Long Beach, died Wednesday at his home. He was 59 years old. He was born in Lebanon, Mo., served with the Army's Black Hawk (86th) Division in World War II and came to Long Beach in 1946. Steinberg joined the post office in 1955 and worked out of the Spring Carrier Annex. He retired in 1983. He was a member of the First United Methodist Church, Masonic Service Lodge 594 and Long Beach Lodge 888 BPOE. Survivors include sisters, Jeanette Steinberg and Alberta Joiner of Long Beach, and Bettie Garrison of Phoenix, Ariz.; brother David Steinberg of Climax Springs, Mo.; and five nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. today at the Stricklin/Snively Chapel, 1952 Long Beach Blvd., Long Beach. The Rev. Merle V. Bailey of the First United Methodist Church will officiate. Interment will be in Lebanon, Mo. Arrangements are under direction of the Stricklin/Snively Mortuary.
******* Biography by Bettie Steinberg Garrison *** 1988 ************
JOSEPH
When Joe was born, the rest of us were sent to a neighbor's house to spend the night. I was excited the next day to learn that I had a baby brother but disappointed that I had missed seeing the stork.
Joe was a cute, happy, little boy. We didn't play together very much, probably because he was too little to be included in the neighborhood activities that involved David and the bigger kids. I was lucky to be let in. I was four grades ahead of Joe, which meant that I didn't see much of him at school. There was enough age difference that we didn't run into conflicts with chore assignments.
Joe had a love of music and a natural talent. He didn't receive any music lessons but by the time he was in the eighth grade he was playing first clarinet in the high school band. He had taught himself. The family used to think that surely he would be a star hitter with the Cardinals because he spent hours in the street batting rocks. The fact that he never hit a car with one of those rocks is one of life's miracles.
Joe started to high school the year I started to junior college, so I really didn't see much of him for three years. He was on the high school football team for a couple of years, but the war and gas rationing made travel impossible. High school teams were disbanded. I'm sure that was a disappointment for him. He was popular in high school but resented the fact that he didn't have the same financial backing as his friends.
The year I was home and working at Ft. Leonard Wood was Joe's senior year in high school. He made life very unpleasant for Mother and Daddy. He resented them and their position and was very vocal about it. We should have realized that he was beginning to have emotional problems, but hindsight has 20-20 vision. I attributed his actions to the fact that he was Mother's baby.
After high school, Joe joined or was drafted into the army. He took some special army engineer training to qualify for a special assignment. By the time he finished the training, the Army had abolished the position. He was put in the infantry. He spent several months in Europe, came home after VE-day, and was immediately shipped to the Philippines.
After his discharge from the Army, he, too, went to California. He attended Long Beach Junior College and Redlands University, but had difficulty directing his energies. He changed majors several times. He had several jobs. None of them challenged him, or used his talents, or suited him.
About 1949 or 1950, Joe was hospitalized with a complete mental breakdown. He was in the hospital for approximately 2 years. I don't think any cause was ever pinpointed. There are probably several possible causes - the age of his parents, his lack of financial base, his military career which was repugnant to him, or something no one has even guessed. I feel his emotional instability undermined his academic endeavors. He couldn't keep on one track. Joe was given shock treatment for his illness. I suspect, but have no clinical proof, that the shock treatments may have been the cause of his slow response and inability to make decisions. Those were not characteristics that he had as a child.
After being discharged from the hospital, he found that he could not get a job. His employment record before his hospitalization and the very fact that he had been hospitalized for an emotional breakdown made him untouchable in the job market. His therapist advised to take any job he could get and hang on to it no matter how distasteful it might be. That way he would at least have something positive on his record. He finally passed the Post Office exam.
Joe kept the Post Office job until his retirement in 1983. I don't think he ever really liked the job, but he did come to terms with it. He realized there were some benefits. He was very popular with his customers. During these years he played with the Elks band and the VFW band. He bought a home and had a real talent for growing plants and an interest in grafting trees. He never married, but had a lady friend for over thirty years.
Joe died February 13, 1985 of lung cancer. He had probably been a smoker since high school days or soon after. Maybe heredity had more to do with the cancer that the cigarettes. Or, maybe it was a combination.
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