Joseph J. Pangonis

Joseph J. Pangonis, a lifelong resident of Auburn Center, died Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010, in the Mercy Special Care Unit, Nanticoke, surrounded by his loving family and friends. He was born in Scranton on February 19, 1919, a son of the late Simon Pangonis and Helen Tamasavicius Pangonis. Joe was a U.S. Army Veteran and, prior to his retirement, he was employed by Stabler Construction. He enjoyed working on his farm and in his stone quarry. Joe was a member of the Church of the Nativity BVM in Tunkhannock and a 50-year-plus member of the McDermott American Legion Post 452, of Mildred, Pa. He was preceded in death by a brother, John; and sisters Mary Yanus, Helen Poreda and Anna Barnas. Surviving is his wife of 62 years, Beatrice Steafather Pangonis; daughters Mary and husband, Jerry Stroka, of Tunkhannock; Patricia and Robert Crossman, of Hayden, Idaho; granddaughters Jennifer and husband Jason Cobb, of Maynard, Mass.; and Christine Stroka of Philadelphia; grandsons Thomas and wife Kim, of Crofton, Md., and Michael Stroka of Tunkhannock. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday from the Sheldon-Kukuchka Funeral Home Inc., 73 W. Tioga St., Tunkhannock, with a Mass of Christian Burial at the Church of the Nativity BVM in Tunkhannock at 11 a.m. Interment will be in Pieta Cemetery, Tunkhannock. Friends may call at the funeral home on Sunday, from 4 to 7 p.m.