Joseph Earl Vogel

On Wednesday, June 13th, 2018, Joseph Earl Vogel, (Joe), our beloved husband, dad, and Grampa, passed away. He fought so hard to get back to his family, but he had just been through too much. His granddaughter sang for him with her angelic voice. My mom & I sang to him earlier also, and even some of his nurses & caregivers chimed in. He went to heaven surrounded by loved ones, family & friends at Inova Fairfax Hospital, that night, while his fellow singers from our church, sang him home. It was difficult to fathom, as he was always much more spry, at 78 years old, than the rest of us. His Grandson and Granddaughter told him how much they loved him and then the nurse informed us, he was ready to go. I believe he was content after hearing their sweet voices. In his younger days, he worked at First Federal Savings & Loan, where he met his wife Dee, who he was so smitten with that he kept asking her out until she said yes. They would eventually wind up married and had been happily so for 53 years on June 12th. He left there & worked at Swartz jewelry store for a brief time. He then served his country in the Airforce from 1957-1961 and was honorably discharged. To date, he had worked for the US Army Audit Agency for 53 years. During his distinguished career at USAAA, he received many awards for his outstanding service. Most recently, in 2015, he was awarded the Commander’s Award for Civilian Service, The Auditor General Award-the Agency’s highest award. He also received letters of commendation & appreciation, on the spot awards, and numerous time-off and performance awards. He was a loving husband, who always did the dishes and said” goodnight, I love you” to my mom with his goofy grin, that reminded her of Dopey from Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs. He was the most wonderful dad, always making me laugh & giving me love & encouragement. He enjoyed watching football with my husband, Brian and they could both nap anytime, anywhere. But I believe his favorite role, was “Grampa.” He could not have been more proud of his grandchildren, Savannah & Jessup. He shared a love of theatre with both of them, as he did Little Theatre himself before, and always tried his best to be at all their performances. He loved talking sports with Jessup & theatre aspirations with Savannah. He was amazed at Jessup’s technical abilities and Savannah’s talent for theatre & singing. He loved being silly with them and doing funny voices or making jokes. He was so interested in everything and anything they had to say, or do, and just loved to spend time with them every chance he got. He was beyond proud of their kind and caring ways and loved them more than words. They meant the world to him and he meant the world to them. They brought so much joy to his heart. He was special to all who knew him and made a positive impact on everyone he’d meet. We are lost without him and will miss him every day. He is survived by his darling wife, Dee, his loving daughter, Susan, her husband, Brian, who he loved like a son, and his beloved granddaughter, Savannah and his beloved Grandson, Jessup. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Joe's memory may be made to Mt. Calvary Community Church, 6731 Beulah Street, Alexandria, VA 22310 or to the American Heart Association at www.heart.org

Tributes

Joseph Earl Vogel

September 13, 1939 - June 13, 2018