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I met Joe Azzolina Sr. in April, 1998. He was a sitting assemblyman in the 13th Legislative District, who was also the president of Food Circus Super Markets, chairman of the Battleship NJ Foundation, and the patriarch of a large and growing family. He also owned the newspaper I was hired to edit, The Courier, in Middletown, which he'd owned since 1983.

Joe was someone I could have read about when in school. In a very real way, he was a captain of industry, as well as a retired U.S. Navy Reserve captain (making him an actual captain too).
 
He was a blur of activity, and vital for a man of any age. Big Joe shuttled between Trenton, Middletown and a hundred other destinations he might be hurrying off for. In the years I knew him, until the newspaper closed in 2009, he was someone that was always on the go, traveling between the worlds of business and government easily. And, he remained in perpetual basis. But, that was the norm for him, and had probably been the way he lived his entire life.

Joe grew up in Highlands, where his mother and father owned a small grocery which he, his sister, Grace, and her husband, Louis Scaduto Sr., built into a chain of Super Foodtowns in Monmouth, Middlesex and Ocean counties.

Born in 1926, when his generation's moment of truth came during World War II, Joe enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1943 and worked his way up. By the time the war ended, in 1945, Joe was a commissioned officer serving in the Atlantic theater of operations as a surface warfare officer.

He returned to civilian life and worked on his business, only to once again return to active duty in the Navy during the Korean War. During the time I knew Joe, he always credited his sister, Grace, and brother-in-law, Louis Sr., for not only keeping the grocery store going but building upon it while he was away.

When Joe returned from war once again, he focused on his business and the community in Middletown, where he moved to with his wife, Lynn. The Azzolinas grew their family as they had children Greg, Mark, John, Joe Jr., and Paul (who passed away while still a child), as well as daughters Judy and Maryann.

Once home in Middletown, Joe became the chairman of the Middletown Republican Party and worked to get Republicans elected to office. In addition, as a U.S. Navy Reserve officer, Joe became involved with Naval recruiting statewide, until he eventually retired in 1986. Along the way, Joe had earned a bachelor's degree from Holy Cross College and attended New York University.

By the 1970s, though, Joe was serving in office himself. During the 1970s, 80s, 90s and mid-2000s, Joe had served in both the N.J. Senate and Assembly, respectively. He sponsored any number of laws that have made a difference for ordinary citizens.

Yet, one of the most revealing of his character was a law he sponsored to create volunteer advocates for the victims of domestic violence, which ensured that abused women received not only received treatment from police and medical personnel, but also advocacy in the form of trained responders.

Another side not usually heard about by people was Joe's generosity. When someone needed a hand up, and even sometimes a hand out, Joe would help random people - friends, employees, neighbors - with help paying their mortgages or maybe by giving them groceries or any of a hundred other means. Above anything else, Joe was kind and approachable.

As an employer, Joe was not only a boss but a friend, albeit a friend that wanted a lot done. Nevertheless, he never expected more from anyone than he, himself, gave to his many ventures.

There is a lot to say about Joe, and whether it is his accomplishment of bringing the Battleship NJ home to the Garden State after its retirement, in 2001, or his gathering supplies and food for 9/11 survivors later that year, he was always doing something for other people.

Joe wasn't perfect, though, nor did he try to act like it. Despite his successes, he always remained an 'every man,' who was approachable, fast with a smile, and candid. No one ever had to wonder where they stood with Big Joe, because he was pretty straightforward with both the good and the bad.

It is inadequate to sum a man up in a few hundred words, and especially Joe. I think I will give it a try, though. He was someone who was larger than life, who built things and created communities. He was no summertime patriot, but served his nation through the good and the bad, even when it took him to foreign waters during war. He was a great husband and father to Lynn and the kids. Joe was powerful, but he never saw such influence as a selfish end. He used his influence for others, and kept remarkably little for himself. Others may say they are a man of the people, but Joe was. But, above all, I think the thing I would say about Joe was that he was kind, and I believe no better thing could be said of a man.

Joe dying leaves a void that is enormous in the community and those who do not know it will soon come to realize it because someone like him just doesn't come along that often.

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