Decker, Joseph W.

ALBANY- Joseph W. Decker was born in Albany, in March 1937 and died November 6, 2014. He graduated from Vincentian Institute in 1954, served in the US Army from 1954 to 1957 and graduated from Albany College of Pharmacy in 1963.

An athlete, Joe played football, basketball and ran track for Vincentian Institute. He played football for the United States Army in Europe. An avid golfer, skier and sailor, he even got his bookish wife, Anne, to sail and ski, although he could never make her a golfer.

Joe coached Little League Baseball and Pop Warner football for as long as his own children played and for a few years afterward. He was a past Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus, a communicant of St. Teresa of Avila Roman Catholic Church. He was long-time president of that school’s PTA. Joe was a Friend of Bill W. for twenty-nine years.

After a stint as a pharmaceutical representative and some years working in the stock market, Joe settled down as a pharmacist at the Stratton VA Hospital in Albany, from which he retired in 1999. He was diagnosed soon afterward with Alzheimer’s disease and became active in the Northeastern New York Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, lobbying, marching and doing whatever he could to advance research into a cure for the disease. He entered the nursing home at the Albany VA in June, 2008, where he remained, happily, until his death.

Joe was predeceased by his parents, Jean Hollner Decker and Frederick L. Decker, and his brother, Frederick N. Decker. He is survived by his wife, née Anne Hamann, his sons, Joseph W., Jr. (Lisa Gorewit), David G., Matthew J. and Kenneth A. Decker. He is also survived by grandchildren Jack Decker, Alex Decker, Liam and Delaney Flaherty; nieces and nephews Fred, Sharon, Michael, Mark and Margaret (Peggy) Decker Newcomb, and a special cousin, Jeanne Kelley Keeler

Special thanks to Dr. Earl Zimmerman of the Albany Medical Center Neurosciences Institute for his compassionate treatment and to the extraordinary staff of 9C at the Stratton VA nursing home – his care could not have been better.

Funeral services will be held Wednesday, November 12, 2014 at 10:00 am in the Daniel Keenan Funeral Home, Inc., 490 Delaware Ave. Relatives and friends are invited and may also call at the funeral home on Tuesday, November 11, 2014 from 4-7 pm. Interment will be in the Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery. Those who wish may send memorial contributions to Alzheimer’s Association of NENY, 40 Pine West Plaza, Suite 405, Washington Ave., Ext., Albany, NY 12205 or the Anne B. and Leon J. Goldberg Research Center at Albany Medical Center, 47 New Scotland Ave., MC 65, Albany, NY 12208