Date of Birth December 9, 1946
Date Deceased May 18, 2023
Hometown Hornell
Home State N.Y.
Service Date May 24, 2023
Service Time 11 a.m.
Service Location Bishop-Johnson & DeSanto Funeral Home
Interment Location St. Mary's Cemetery, Town of Fremont

Joseph F. Cieslak

HORNELL  – Joseph F. Cieslak,76, of Hornell, NY passed on to Heaven, Thursday (May 18, 2023).  He died unexpectedly at home after a long battle with COPD.

He was born on December 9, 1946 in Hornell NY to Francis and Dolores (Vose) Cieslak. Joe graduated from Hornell High School and was a lifelong resident. He was a member of St. Ann s Catholic Church in his earlier years.

He loved the sport of baseball and continued playing throughout the years. He coached Little League for the American Legion.  His son, Joey played on this team and in1981, his father led this team to first place in the National League Championship. He also was an umpire for many years.

Joe was employed by Foster Wheeler in Dansville, NY as a welder until 1986 when he accepted a local job at Morrison Knudson and then Amerail building subway cars. He retired from Alstom. There he worked as a Quality Supervisor & Welding Inspector, being certified as a CWI/CWE. His work sent him to many US cities and around the world. After retirement, he was contracted by Bombardier as a welding inspector. Virginkar & Associates out of Boston employed him for several years. He taught and qualified workers as Certified Welders. He was a member of the American Welding Society. He was proud of his work in keeping high quality standards of procedures and policies. He was pleased when a contract was finally completed.

He was a member of the Association Club and served on the board of directors. Joe and his father started a collection of postcards and pictures mainly of the Hornell area.  At one time, Joe had one of largest collections in Hornell and he loved to share his collection with others.

He watched Jeopardy nightly. He enjoyed bowling, camping at Skybrook, dancing (jigger bug), writing poems for different events for family and friends, playing horseshoes shooting “six packs” and playing slo-pitch in the Men’s League on the Medics team. He was a devoted lifelong fan of the NY Yankees, Cleveland Browns, and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. He loved to tell jokes and making people laugh. He enjoyed taking daily walks to the park with his dog, Eli.

Joe will be missed by family and friends. He is survived by his wife, Susan (Hunt) Cieslak who he married in 1993; his son, Joey Cieslak of South Carolina; two daughters, Andrea (Richard Daley) Cieslak of Canandaigua, NY and Angela (Thomas) Panter of Virginia. He adored his five amazing grandchildren, McKenna Cieslak, Kylie and Jaxson Panter and Charlie and Samuel Daley. Also survived by his sister, Dolores (Walter) Canfield, as well as their children, Christine (Orlando) Monaco, Dan (Susan) Canfield and Thomas (Veronica) Canfield. Survived by many brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

Calling hours are 4-7 p.m. TUESDAY (May 23, 2023) at the Bishop-Johnson & DeSanto Funeral Home, 285 Main St., Hornell, where a funeral service will take place at 11 a.m. WEDNESDAY (May 24, 2023), with Deacon Robert McCormick officiating. Committal services and interment will follow at St. Mary’s Cemetery, Town of Fremont.

In lieu of flowers, those wishing may contribute in his memory to the Hornell Little League, P.O. Box 374, Hornell, NY 14843. Envelopes for memorial contributions will be available at the funeral home.

The Bishop-Johnson & DeSanto Funeral Home is honored to assist Joe’s family with the arrangements.

Online condolences or remembrances of Joe are welcome below in the comment section or on the Facebook page of Bishop-Johnson & DeSanto Funeral Home.

 

 

 

 

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5 Responses

  1. Sue so very sorry for your loss..know that you and your family are in our prayers..I can picture Joe starting a baseball team in heaven called the winning angels..RIP My friend…

  2. Thanks Joe, for teaching me the game of baseball and giving me a passion for the game. Rest easy old friend.

    Susan …?Our hearts go out to you …

  3. My prayers go out to the Cieslak family.Joe was a good friend and we played on the same team in little league.
    May you rest in peace Joe and as your father would say we were a bunch of fossils.

  4. Prayers to the entire Cieslak Family! I only know Joseph’s son, Joe. Knowing the man that Joe is, it is obvious that Joseph must have been an incredible man.

  5. I have nothing but fond memories of Joe. He worked for me at Alstom as the company Weld expert. Joe often commented that I was the best boss he ever had, but for me he made my job easy. Many times I called Joe late in the day or after hours because we had a weld issue on site, at one of our Suppliers, or another Alstom site somewhere on the other side of the globe. Joe never complained. He would go where needed to fix the issue. Sometimes requiring extended stays to complete his task.
    I always received positive feed back on Joe from Suppliers, and customers that Joe had contact with. Many times customers would request Joe be part of the team established to solve welding issues. He always came through with positive results.
    We could always depend on Joe to keep things on the light side in the office with his jokes and puzzles.
    My fondest memory is when Joe wrote one of his famous Poem’s to me as “The Best Boss in The World” after being reassigned to another supervisor. I still have that Poem and look at it frequently.
    Joe was a great guy. Rest in Peace my friend!

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