Joseph Carmine Contrada
Of Watertown, Mass and Ft. Lauderdale Florida passed away September 10, 2020 at the age of 101. Born on September 10, 1919, Joseph Carmine Contrada was raised in Boston’s North End on Endicott Street, where he lived until he married the late R. Gloria (nee Brescia) of Watertown, Mass. in July of 1953. He graduated form Boston’s Commerce High School, and, because childhood illness precluded him from military service, worked at Raytheon Waltham on military projects during World War II. The early part of his working career was spent as a Photostat operator, using a room-sized “bellows-type” camera to produce enormous documents, for things such as blueprints or government applications. In his late 40’s, Joe went to Northeastern University night school to learn how to program, then spent his last two working decades as computer programmer and systems analyst. Joe and Gloria, his wife and constant companion of 56 years, enjoyed the seashore and hosted events for friends and family for 4 decades at beachfront cottages in Marshfield, Mass. Upon their retirements, Joe and Gloria lived half of each year in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where they owned a cooperative apartment. An avid Boston sports fan, Joe also played golf weekly through his mid 90’s and often organized multi-foursome groups, tallying the adjusted scores for their friendly competitions. One of his favorite hobbies was analyzing thoroughbred horse racing, and he frequented local racetracks to place $1 and $2 wagers on the weekly major, national races. Although his wife, a frequent companion, insisted that he was just “feeding the ponies,” Saturdays for Joe were often a sixth payday, despite the tiny sums he bet! Joe also maintained a fairly large garden at his Watertown address and through the years enjoyed gifting friends and relatives gigantic tomatoes, some of which exceeded two pounds. Joe was pre-deceased by his wife, Gloria, his older brother, Anthony Contrada of Framingham and Tewksbury, and his older sister, Philomena “Phyllis” (Contrada) Pytlak, of Medford and Melrose. He leaves his younger brother, Julio Contrada, of Newton, Mass, his son, Joseph A. Contrada of Waltham, Mass, and thirteen nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be private. Memorial’s in Joe’s memory may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association 309 Waverley Oaks Road Waltham MA 02452 or at www.alz.org
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