In the neighborhood, there were so many Joes that everyone used their middle names, Joe Mike, Joe Phil... but there was only one Joe LaBella, Joe LaB for short.  To know Joe was to love Joe.  And to love Joe was to understand that he was a "testa dura," a hard head.  Put more politely, once Joe LaBella made up his mind, you weren't going to change it.  His closest friends and family had another phrase for this but loved him deeply anyway.

You can't tell the story of Joe LaBella without the story of Joe and Judy.  Joe and Judy (Stasi) met in kindergarten at Holy Rosary Grade school.  They teased each other in grade school, sat on the stoop and talked until they were old enough to date when Judy turned 16. They were married Oct. 14, 1961 at Holy Rosary Catholic Church.

Joe attended Holy Rosary Grade School, De La Salle Military Academy, Class of '59, and Kansas City Business College.  Joe worked as a bookkeeper for business owners in Kansas City and prepared taxes for hundreds of individuals.  He retired from Ford Motor Company in 1996.  Joe served on the boards of Holy Rosary and Midwest United Credit Unions most of his life, serving as President of Holy Rosary CU after his retirement from Ford.

Joe was active in the Boy Scouts of America.  He joined at 11, was a Scout Master as a young man guiding scouts barely younger than himself in Troop 70.  He stayed active his whole life and went to H. Roe Bartle Camp in Osceola every year with Troop 80.  Known by his tribal name, Bright White Cloud, Joe attained the rank of Medicine Man, the 2 ^nd highest rank in the Tribe of Mic-O-Say.  Joe also served on the Eagle Scout review board and helped many young men earn their Eagle Scout.

Joe and Judy loved to travel.  Their favorite destinations were Hawaii, Italy and Las Vegas.  It was a family joke that no matter where they traveled, Joe would run into someone that he knew.  Joe had friends around the world.

If wealth was measured by one's number of friends, Joe LaBella was the richest man in town.  Whether you called him Honey, Dad, PawPaw, Uncle Joe or Joe LaB, he likely impacted your life.  His children, grandchildren and great grandchildren continue the path he created.

Joe is preceded in death by parents Joseph and Congetta (Kanzie) LaBella and brother-in-law Louis Lipari, Jr. He is survived by his beautiful, loving, devoted wife of over 60 years Judy LaBella, children John (Diann) LaBella, Joanna (Walter) Scavuzzo, Joseph (Anne) LaBella, grandchildren Amanda Scavuzzo, John (Courtney) LaBella, Jennifer (Terrance) Scarborough, Julia (Scott) Reuter, Johnny Joe Scavuzzo, Joseph and Benjamin LaBella, great-grandchildren Jaxon and Mia Stasi Reuter, sister Nancy Lipari, brother and sister-in-law R.J. and Carol Stasi, nieces, nephews and hundreds of cousins and friends.

The LaBella family would like to thank the nurses of NorthCare Hospice House for their kind and compassionate care.  In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to NorthCare Hospice House .

Visitation will begin at 10:30 a.m. with the Funeral Mass at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 6, at Holy Rosary Catholic Church. Burial will follow at Mount Olivet Cemetery.

Condolences may be offered at www.passantinobros.com