Obituary of Joe Del Polito

Joseph A. Del Polito passed peacefully on April 14th with his wife and sons at his side.  He shared 74 years of love and laughter with everyone he knew. Joe loved so many.  Visiting hours will be held on Thursday, April 18th from 5-9 pm at the Norman Dean Home for Services, 16 Righter Avenue, Denville, NJ.  A Service of Remembrance will be held on Friday, April 19th at 11 am at the funeral home.  All are invited to come and share your memories.  Donations in his memory may be made to the good work of the CPNJ Horizon High School, 220 South Orange Avenue, Suite 300 Livingston, NJ 07039; a school so near and dear to Joe and the school that his grandson Benjamin attends. Donations can be made online at  www.cpnj.org  under "how to help". Please put “for Horizon High School” in memo section.  Envelopes will also be provided at the funeral home.

Joe was born in June of 1944 to the late Anthony and Margaret Del Polito.  He worked for  Siemens Building Technologies where he devoted over 40 years to the company and enjoyed the work and more importantly the friends he met there.  In 1970 he met Merle (McAvoy) Castles who he later married in 1976. They settled in Lake Shawnee where they raised their two sons. Their home was filled with love and laughter. Joe was definitely a workaholic.  In his spare time though, he enjoyed Bruce Springsteen’s music & loved attending his concerts. He loved eating out, taking trips into NYC, traveling and being around people.  He loved trying new places and visiting old stomping grounds like the Windlass, John’s on Bleecker, Reservoir Tavern and Rutt’s Hutt.  Joe was also a very social guy.  He would talk to anyone and had an endearing way of always keeping in touch.  If you were lucky enough to be a recipient of one of Joe’s postcards, well, you were lucky enough.  He knew the importance of family & relationships and it showed. 

Above everything, Joe loved his family.  He was the best Grandpa to five grandsons.  The sun rose and set on his boys and he bragged of them to anyone who would listen. He loved taking the kids places and showing them new things.  Although we are saddened by his passing, we take comfort in knowing he is at peace and watching over his family with love.

He leaves beautiful memories to his wife Merle of 42 years; his sons Gene Castles, wife Laura Castles and Michael Del Polito, wife Toni Del Polito, his grandsons Benjamin, Ryan and Matthew Castles and Joseph and Miles Del Polito, and many dear Aunts, cousins, friends and acquaintances.

“Leave behind your sorrows, let this day be the last. Tomorrow there’ll be sunshine and all this darkness past.”

If you were lucky recipient of one of his creative photo postcards, we would love it if you could bring with you to the visiting hours. We will have a display for you to share it and we will make sure it gets returned to you.