Joseph Stephen Haras
December 31, 1919 ~ February 2, 2023 (age 103)
Obituary
Joseph S. Haras, 103-year-old WW II Veteran, passed away Thursday, February 2, 2023. Dad was born on December 31, 1919 into the family of Stephen and Theresa Haras in St. Louis, Missouri. He had an older brother named Andrew who became his best friend. Dad attended St. George's Grammar School in St. Louis before the family moved to Newark, New Jersey where he went to St. Mary's School and Central High School. After high school, he worked as a machinist and blueprint reader for three years at the Bloomfield Tool Company where they made airplane engine parts. Dad then met the love of his life, a country girl from Franklin, New Jersey named Margaret Malina. They married on April 18, 1943 and had two sons, Stephen and Joseph. They purchased a home in Elizabeth, New Jersey where they lived for more than seventy years. They were married for seventy-five years before mom died on November 18, 2014.
Dad was then drafted into the US Army and served from 1943 until 1945 with the 369th Ordinance Company. He served in Italy, France, Belgium and Germany. He was wounded in France and was hospitalized for three months. He saw action in the Battle of the Ardennes, the Battle of the Bulge, Central Europe and the German Rhineland before being honorably discharged in November 1945. After returning home, Dad formed a very successful catering business in which he served the factory and port authority workers in Newark and Elizabeth, New Jersey. After this he sold the catering business and went onto work as a shop steward for Budweiser Brewery in Newark, NJ for the next thirty-five years and then retired. Dad and mom were very sports minded which led them to participate with their sons in many outdoor activities such as swimming and hiking in our National Parks. Their favorite park was the Grand Tetons in Wyoming which they visited twelve times with their sons. They also enjoyed going on island cruises with their senior groups. Dad and mom were very dedicated to their catholic faith and expressed this devotion in their love of God and their fellowman. Dad became a father figure for many of our friends who didn't have a loving parent to confide in. Their kindness led them to care unselfishly for those who were less fortunate within our own family and within our community.
They were also longtime members of The Shrine of St. Bernadette Parish in Albuquerque. A Rosary will be Monday, February 27, 2023 9:30 a.m. and Mass at 10:00 a.m. Interment will follow at the Santa Fe National Cemetery for veterans Graveside Service Monday, March 6, 2023, at 10:00 a.m.
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