Obituary of Joseph Poles

Joseph Poles, a retired Terrazzo Mason and a beloved uncle, passed away on May 3, 2023 at the age of 81. Joseph was born “Giuseppe” in Brugnera, Italy to his parents Maria and Antonio. Joseph grew up in Italy before immigrating to the United States at the age of 18. When Joseph moved to Boston and settled in, he started working as a mason, working with Terrazzo, special cement mixed with precious stone. It was tough work, but he was excellent at it.

At home, Joseph loved to garden, grill on the barbecue and spend time with his grand-niece Chloe. Joseph’s garden was a great undertaking, not only did he grow the usual items, lettuce and tomatoes, but he also grew a fig tree. A fig tree takes a great amount of effort to care for. They are delicate. They need to be brought in during the winter time, or tipped over and buried. During the spring and fall, they need to be brought inside and outside the house depending on the weather, while still being allowed the opportunity to get fresh air and sunshine. Joseph treasured spending time with Chloe. He was a personal chauffeur for her, taking her to and from school, to the YMCA, or to swim practice in the summertime. The two would often go for ice cream together as well. When Joseph could no longer drive, he’d slip Chloe a twenty and send her on her way to continue the tradition.

Joseph had a passion for cars. He cycled through a whole fleet of vehicles in his life. He had a Chevy Montecarlo, a Pontiac Firebird Trans Am GTA, a Ford Thunderbird, a Cadillac CTS, a Chrysler 300, a Chevy Avalanche and a Mini Cooper. He always wanted the latest and greatest. When he had the Cadillac CTS, but wanted the Chrysler 300, he had the dealership take the front grill off of the CTS and put it on the 300, so that when he bought it, the family wouldn’t be so quick to realize he’d bought a new car. When he had the Mini Cooper, he wanted a Fiat, because it was like a Mini Cooper, but Italian.

Joseph loved to travel, and it helped that he had family all over the world to go visit. He would make a pilgrimage back to Italy often to visit his family and cousins, especially after his parents moved back to Italy to retire. He had some cousins down in Australia that he got to go down and visit with too. Joseph’s sister Carmella lives in Canada, and he was sure to drive up to visit with her as well. Joseph and his cousin Sergio also once took a road trip down to Florida. 

Joseph’s favorite spot to walk was Castle Island. He’d park his car and start the walk out. At the halfway point, he’d get a hotdog at the food stand, and then when he go back to the parking lot, he’d get an ice cream at Sullivan’s before heading home. Joseph also enjoyed his “Congac with a little ‘spresso’”, which was about a half cup of each, he said this helped his digestion after a meal. He enjoyed sharing his meals not only with his nephew Remo, niece-in-law Jennifer, and grand-niece Chloe, but also with their dogs, Buddy and PJ. When Joseph ate downstairs, Buddy would go down with Joseph, and get rewarded with a bite of food for every few that Joseph had himself. It made sense that Buddy always chose to run to Joseph’s room when he was scared during a thunderstorm, he knew Joseph would look after him.

Joseph was the dear brother of  Carmella Gava and was pre-deceased by his older brother and sister in-law, Lorenzo and Marisa Poles. He was the beloved uncle to Remo Poles and his wife Jennifer of Burlington, Morena Gerotto and her husband Lauro of Italy, Gabriella Poles of West Roxbury, Pino Gava of Canada and Vitale Gava of Canada. He was the caring great-uncle to Chloe Poles of Burlington, Ronny Gerotto of West Roxbury, and Luana Gerotto of Italy. He will be dearly missed by many more. Funeral services will be private.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making donations to the Alzheimer’s Association at www.ALZ.org

For online guestbook and tribute video, please visit www.sullivanfuneralhome.net