Joseph Anthony Carretto

Joseph Anthony Carretto "Joe", Sr. went home to his Lord on Saturday, Jully 5, 2025, in Gulfport, MS, surrounded by family. He was 99.5 years old.

He was born January 19, 1926, in Brooklyn, New York, to Italian immigrant parents, Phillippo Ciaravulo and Anna DeRose Ciaravulo. His name was Americanized in 1947. He had a family of ten siblings.

As a child, Joe loved to play stick ball with his brothers, and especially the half days at school where they were released to watch the Yankees play home games - seeing the likes of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in their prime.

Joe received his undergraduate degree from City College in New York and obtained his Juris Doctorate through St. John's University in New York.

He married Dorothy Theresa (RUVOLO) in 1948, and they had four children: Regina, Donna, Joseph, Jr. and Robert. After Dorothy died in 1983, he married Wanda Mae Cole, who then predeceased him in 2010.

He began his career in 1951 with Standard Insurance until joining the US Air Force ten years later. He served in the Air Force as a Judge Advocate from 1961 - 1981, and as a civil service attorney for years after his retirement as a Lt Colonel. While in the Air Force, he obtained numerous commendations, including the Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters, National Defense Service Medal and the Vietnam Service Medal, with two service stars. He also served as an instructor.

Besides his family and military career, Joe found beauty in everything. He loved art and created many beautiful paintings, sketches and sculptures. He loved life and the wonder he found in all nature. He would spend hours outdoors observing the sky and clouds, the flowers and the birds and wildlife. He often took pictures of the things he saw to capture for paintings later. He enjoyed photography and other art forms. He was an avid reader and loved to debate and was a member of Toastmasters International. He also enjoyed community theater and was the president of the base theater while serving in Wiesbaden, Germany.

In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by two loving spouses, all ten of his siblings, and his youngest son, Robert Peter Carretto, who died January 17, 2017.

He is survived by his three other children, daughter, Regina Marie Carretto Lawrence (M.O./Buck), daughter Donna Marie Carretto Vorhes (Paul, deceased), and son, Joseph Anthony Carretto, Jr. (Carol); three grandchildren, Danielle Marie Kahlo, Shawna Marie Kahlo-Brown (James Lee), and Ryan Mitchell Kahlo, and three great-grandchildren, Gabriella Rose Brown, Elizabeth McCain Brown and Ilan Brady Kahlo, and many nieces and nephews and other loving family members.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Gulfport on Thursday, July 17, 2025, at 1:00 p.m., preceded by a visitation beginning at 12:00 p.m. at the church. A small reception will follow the mass.

The burial will take place at a later date at the Biloxi VA National Cemetery.

Donations to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the American Cancer Society, or St. Joseph Catholic Church may be given in lieu of flowers.

The family wishes to thank the many wonderful people who knew him at the Lyman Senior Center, where he enjoyed many years of fun, Summerfield Senior Home, Gentiva Hospice, Home Instead and Cornerstone Caregivers, the Biloxi VA Medical Center, Dr. Matthew Murray and Janet, Exceed Therapy and all of whom enabled him to live independently as long as he could, and to continue a very good happy life.

Bradford O'Keefe Funeral Home, O'Neal Road, Gulfport, is honored to serve the family of Joseph Anthony Carretto.