Joseph S. Restifo, 89, a longtime resident of both Delmar and Westerlo, passed away on November 6, 2020, after a life well lived.
He was born on July 23, 1931, in Albany and was the son of the late Sebastian and Dorothy (Wilke) Restifo.
Soon after, the family moved to Delmar where Joe remained for most of 40 years.
Joe attended high school at both Bethlehem Central High School and Vincentian Institute in Albany.
He was voted "most scientific," worked on the school newspaper, and was a member of the football and track teams.
He then spent a year at Siena College before continuing his education for five years in monastery life. During his three-and-a-half years at the Abbey of Gethsemani, a Trappist Monastery in Kentucky, one of Joe's teachers was the famed monk, Father Thomas Merton, who Joe continued to follow through the years via his many books and lectures. Joe also spent time with the Cistersion monks in Rochester and the Carthusians in Vermont before returning to lay life due to health problems.
Throughout his life, Joe remained a devoted Catholic as an active parishioner at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Delmar for 49 years and at St. John the Baptist Church in Greenville for 40 years. Between the two churches, he sang in the choir, and was a lector, a cantor, and a eucharistic minister.
Joe had a long career as a systems analyst for the state of New York, mostly in the Department of Motor Vehicles.
He also loved classical music and opera, his beloved books, his two cats, JJ and Minnie, and the great outdoors.
For many years, he participated in yearly retreats at St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Mass. with his brother, Al.
After 40 years in Delmar, Joe moved to the country in Westerlo where he built a house on 17 acres, and over the years acquired additional property until he was surrounded by 113 acres of nature where he enjoyed long walks among the wildlife.
He was an active member of the Adirondack Mountain Club and eventually hiked 18 of the high peaks in New York.
When Joe had to return to Delmar, he donated 51 acres of wetlands on his property to the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy who established The Restifo Preserve which is available to the public for hiking and wildlife observation.
Joe was predeceased by his parents, his stepmother, Anna (Anita) Restifo; and his older brother, Alfred P. Restifo.
He is survived by his two godchildren; niece Therese Hendricks (husband Walter) of Hopewell Junction; and grandnephew Kevin Hendricks of Framingham, Mass.; and his additional nephews, niece and their spouses: Mark Restifo (Sherill) of Ghent, Stephen VanDyke-Restifo (Edna) of Voorheesville, Bernard Restifo (Patsy) of Erwin, N.C., David Restifo (Nancy) of Southport, N.C., Christopher Restifo (Theresa) of Voorheesville, and Karen Coleman (Thomas) of Walden, N.Y. He is also survived by his sister-in-law, Valerie Thompson; his cousin, Larry Wilke (Sally); and many grandnieces and grandnephews.
Burial will be in the Calvary Cemetery, 481 Rte 9W, Glenmont.
He was born on July 23, 1931, in Albany and was the son of the late Sebastian and Dorothy (Wilke) Restifo.
Soon after, the family moved to Delmar where Joe remained for most of 40 years.
Joe attended high school at both Bethlehem Central High School and Vincentian Institute in Albany.
He was voted "most scientific," worked on the school newspaper, and was a member of the football and track teams.
He then spent a year at Siena College before continuing his education for five years in monastery life. During his three-and-a-half years at the Abbey of Gethsemani, a Trappist Monastery in Kentucky, one of Joe's teachers was the famed monk, Father Thomas Merton, who Joe continued to follow through the years via his many books and lectures. Joe also spent time with the Cistersion monks in Rochester and the Carthusians in Vermont before returning to lay life due to health problems.
Throughout his life, Joe remained a devoted Catholic as an active parishioner at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Delmar for 49 years and at St. John the Baptist Church in Greenville for 40 years. Between the two churches, he sang in the choir, and was a lector, a cantor, and a eucharistic minister.
Joe had a long career as a systems analyst for the state of New York, mostly in the Department of Motor Vehicles.
He also loved classical music and opera, his beloved books, his two cats, JJ and Minnie, and the great outdoors.
For many years, he participated in yearly retreats at St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Mass. with his brother, Al.
After 40 years in Delmar, Joe moved to the country in Westerlo where he built a house on 17 acres, and over the years acquired additional property until he was surrounded by 113 acres of nature where he enjoyed long walks among the wildlife.
He was an active member of the Adirondack Mountain Club and eventually hiked 18 of the high peaks in New York.
When Joe had to return to Delmar, he donated 51 acres of wetlands on his property to the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy who established The Restifo Preserve which is available to the public for hiking and wildlife observation.
Joe was predeceased by his parents, his stepmother, Anna (Anita) Restifo; and his older brother, Alfred P. Restifo.
He is survived by his two godchildren; niece Therese Hendricks (husband Walter) of Hopewell Junction; and grandnephew Kevin Hendricks of Framingham, Mass.; and his additional nephews, niece and their spouses: Mark Restifo (Sherill) of Ghent, Stephen VanDyke-Restifo (Edna) of Voorheesville, Bernard Restifo (Patsy) of Erwin, N.C., David Restifo (Nancy) of Southport, N.C., Christopher Restifo (Theresa) of Voorheesville, and Karen Coleman (Thomas) of Walden, N.Y. He is also survived by his sister-in-law, Valerie Thompson; his cousin, Larry Wilke (Sally); and many grandnieces and grandnephews.
Burial will be in the Calvary Cemetery, 481 Rte 9W, Glenmont.
Joseph S. Restifo, 89, a longtime resident of both Delmar and Westerlo, passed away on November 6, 2020, after a life well lived.
He was born on July 23, 1931, in Albany and was the son of the late Sebastian and Dorothy (Wilke) Restifo.
Soon after, the family moved to Delmar where Joe remained for most of 40 years.
Joe attended high school at both Bethlehem Central High School and Vincentian Institute in Albany.
He was voted "most scientific," worked on the school newspaper, and was a member of the football and track teams.
He then spent a year at Siena College before continuing his education for five years in monastery life. During his three-and-a-half years at the Abbey of Gethsemani, a Trappist Monastery in Kentucky, one of Joe's teachers was the famed monk, Father Thomas Merton, who Joe continued to follow through the years via his many books and lectures. Joe also spent time with the Cistersion monks in Rochester and the Carthusians in Vermont before returning to lay life due to health problems.
Throughout his life, Joe remained a devoted Catholic as an active parishioner at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Delmar for 49 years and at St. John the Baptist Church in Greenville for 40 years. Between the two churches, he sang in the choir, and was a lector, a cantor, and a eucharistic minister.
Joe had a long career as a systems analyst for the state of New York, mostly in the Department of Motor Vehicles.
He also loved classical music and opera, his beloved books, his two cats, JJ and Minnie, and the great outdoors.
For many years, he participated in yearly retreats at St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Mass. with his brother, Al.
After 40 years in Delmar, Joe moved to the country in Westerlo where he built a house on 17 acres, and over the years acquired additional property until he was surrounded by 113 acres of nature where he enjoyed long walks among the wildlife.
He was an active member of the Adirondack Mountain Club and eventually hiked 18 of the high peaks in New York.
When Joe had to return to Delmar, he donated 51 acres of wetlands on his property to the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy who established The Restifo Preserve which is available to the public for hiking and wildlife observation.
Joe was predeceased by his parents, his stepmother, Anna (Anita) Restifo; and his older brother, Alfred P. Restifo.
He is survived by his two godchildren; niece Therese Hendricks (husband Walter) of Hopewell Junction; and grandnephew Kevin Hendricks of Framingham, Mass.; and his additional nephews, niece and their spouses: Mark Restifo (Sherill) of Ghent, Stephen VanDyke-Restifo (Edna) of Voorheesville, Bernard Restifo (Patsy) of Erwin, N.C., David Restifo (Nancy) of Southport, N.C., Christopher Restifo (Theresa) of Voorheesville, and Karen Coleman (Thomas) of Walden, N.Y. He is also survived by his sister-in-law, Valerie Thompson; his cousin, Larry Wilke (Sally); and many grandnieces and grandnephews.
Burial will be in the Calvary Cemetery, 481 Rte 9W, Glenmont.
He was born on July 23, 1931, in Albany and was the son of the late Sebastian and Dorothy (Wilke) Restifo.
Soon after, the family moved to Delmar where Joe remained for most of 40 years.
Joe attended high school at both Bethlehem Central High School and Vincentian Institute in Albany.
He was voted "most scientific," worked on the school newspaper, and was a member of the football and track teams.
He then spent a year at Siena College before continuing his education for five years in monastery life. During his three-and-a-half years at the Abbey of Gethsemani, a Trappist Monastery in Kentucky, one of Joe's teachers was the famed monk, Father Thomas Merton, who Joe continued to follow through the years via his many books and lectures. Joe also spent time with the Cistersion monks in Rochester and the Carthusians in Vermont before returning to lay life due to health problems.
Throughout his life, Joe remained a devoted Catholic as an active parishioner at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Delmar for 49 years and at St. John the Baptist Church in Greenville for 40 years. Between the two churches, he sang in the choir, and was a lector, a cantor, and a eucharistic minister.
Joe had a long career as a systems analyst for the state of New York, mostly in the Department of Motor Vehicles.
He also loved classical music and opera, his beloved books, his two cats, JJ and Minnie, and the great outdoors.
For many years, he participated in yearly retreats at St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Mass. with his brother, Al.
After 40 years in Delmar, Joe moved to the country in Westerlo where he built a house on 17 acres, and over the years acquired additional property until he was surrounded by 113 acres of nature where he enjoyed long walks among the wildlife.
He was an active member of the Adirondack Mountain Club and eventually hiked 18 of the high peaks in New York.
When Joe had to return to Delmar, he donated 51 acres of wetlands on his property to the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy who established The Restifo Preserve which is available to the public for hiking and wildlife observation.
Joe was predeceased by his parents, his stepmother, Anna (Anita) Restifo; and his older brother, Alfred P. Restifo.
He is survived by his two godchildren; niece Therese Hendricks (husband Walter) of Hopewell Junction; and grandnephew Kevin Hendricks of Framingham, Mass.; and his additional nephews, niece and their spouses: Mark Restifo (Sherill) of Ghent, Stephen VanDyke-Restifo (Edna) of Voorheesville, Bernard Restifo (Patsy) of Erwin, N.C., David Restifo (Nancy) of Southport, N.C., Christopher Restifo (Theresa) of Voorheesville, and Karen Coleman (Thomas) of Walden, N.Y. He is also survived by his sister-in-law, Valerie Thompson; his cousin, Larry Wilke (Sally); and many grandnieces and grandnephews.
Burial will be in the Calvary Cemetery, 481 Rte 9W, Glenmont.
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Records on Ancestry
Advertisement
