Obituary of Joseph Mark Konicki

Joseph Mark Konicki, of Palm Bay, FL, passed away Thursday, October 4, 2018 at the age of 80. Joseph was a wonderful man that was loved, is missed, and will always be cherished. “GPA,” as he was called by his grandchildren, “Mark,” as he was called by his siblings, was an amazing husband, dad, brother, son and friend. Joe’s story began on July 23, 1938, the oldest son born to Joseph and Mary Konicki. Joe was born in Grays Landing, PA and spent his childhood with his two brothers and four sisters in Point Marion/Friendship Hill, PA. He graduated from high school and shortly after enlisted in the Air Force. While in the Air Force, Joe represented his country abroad playing in a variety of sports. After his discharge from the Air Force, Joe ended up in New York and began working at JFK Airport. Eventually, he found his work-home with Pan American Airways. Joe spotted the love of his life, Priscilla, at the “Roach Coach” food truck in the cargo area of the airport during their work lunch breaks. Their first date was on New Year’s Eve 1965, engaged in May of 1966 and on October 1, 1966 they were married on a rainy New York Saturday. Joe and Priscilla remained in New York for almost 30 years. During their time in New York, they welcomed four children. Mark in 1970, Tracey in 1976, Jason in 1978 and Jamie in 1982. Joe remained active in sports, playing and traveling with his softball team in a variety of tournaments. He took up volleyball with a local city league and also the role of coach for his son Mark’s baseball teams. The year 1985 brought a big change as Joe’s promotion relocated the family to Florida. In Florida, Joe continued his work with Pan Am. Pan Am was then purchased by Delta Airlines and Joe stayed on to work with Delta. During this time, Joe took on the roles of chauffeur, grocery shopper, band parent, homework helper and occasionally, the dinner starter as his work hours allowed him to be home in the afternoon for his children. Joe continued his love of sports by playing softball with his oldest son, Mark, on the church league and coaching his son Jason’s baseball teams. After 32 years of dedicated service to the airlines, Joe retired from Delta. He was not done working though, he ended up managing the computer warehouse for a local company for five years. He also helped out a family friend as the manager of My Favorite Muffin. He enjoyed this job because three of his four children worked there and he could manage them at work and home.  After living in South Florida for 20 years, Joe and Priscilla relocated a couple of hours north to reside in Palm Bay. In Palm Bay, Joe was retired and could focus on things he truly enjoyed such as spending time with family, helping out with various household chores, catching up on a good trivia book or John Wayne movie, solving Jumble puzzles and taking on the challenge of solving one million free cell games on the computer. He also spent many days rooting for (or yelling at) his favorite sports teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Florida Gators and the New York Yankees. Joe’s 10 grandchildren and 1 great grandson were his pride and joy. There’s no denying that ‘GPA’ was incredibly loved by all of them. It was amazing to see a man with such a large stature turn into a pile of mush when greeted with hugs and kisses from them. Loved ones that have taken the heavenly path before Joe are his mother, Mary; father, Joseph; sister, MaryAnn; brother, Eddie; and in-laws, Rance and Ruth Brown. Loved ones that will miss Joe so much are his wife of 52 years, Priscilla; his son Mark (Donna); his daughter Tracey (Seann); his son Jason (Nikki); his daughter Jamie (Mark) and his grandchildren Chris, Megan, Madison, Vanessa, Rebecca, Halle, Elena, Sonja, Milla and Jeriko; his great grandson Dawson; his siblings Fran, Connie, Al and Doris; and extended family members and friends.