Joseph Skrapits March 21, 1926 - September 2, 2024

Joseph Skrapits, 98, formerly of Allentown, died September 2 in his residence at Moravian Hall Square in Nazareth. He was the husband of the late Carmella (Bartolotta) Skrapits; they were married 73 years at the time of her death in 2022. They are survived by their four children: Joseph (Susan Weaver) of Allentown; Luci Ann Merlo of Blacksburg, Va.; Rose Lounsbury of Allentown; and Joni Jackson (Bryan Jackson) of Nazareth; and two grandchildren: Joseph Zipper (Julia Zipper) of Arlington, Va. and Anna Tabah (Trevor Tabah) of Wilmington, Del.

Born March 21, 1926 in Northampton, Joseph was the eldest of six children of the late Karl and Julia (Filipovits) Skrapits, immigrants from Austria-Hungary. Joseph is survived by two brothers, Leo and Louis; he was predeceased by his brother Charles and his sisters Rose Nemeth and Maryanne Mengel.

During Joe’s childhood the family lived in Stockertown, where his father Karl worked at the local cement mill. Joe had many happy memories of fishing and swimming in Bushkill Creek, and watching planes taking off and landing at nearby Braden Field. His interest in aviation was sparked in grade school, when he designed a prize-winning poster advertising the US Air Mail. The prize was his first airplane ride, in a Piper Cub that landed in a field next to the Stockertown elementary school.

In 1943 Joe graduated from Nazareth High School, where he was an outstanding student and played on a winning baseball team coached by the legendary Andy Leh. Wartime gas rationing prevented them from playing for the district championship. Joe enlisted in the US Navy on his eighteenth birthday in 1944. He trained as a radio technician and aviation ordinance man and was promoted to petty officer before his honorable discharge in 1946.

In 1947 Joe entered Lafayette College on the GI Bill. He and Carmella married in 1948, and their first child was born while Joe was a student at Lafayette. He graduated in 1951 with a BS in electrical engineering. After graduation he went to work for General Electric as an electrical engineer specializing in microwave technology at GE plants in Schenectady, N.Y. and Scranton, Pa. He was a member of the engineering team that developed the magnetron now commonly used in microwave ovens. In 1962 the family moved to Allentown, where Joe worked for Western Electric (later Lucent) in microwave communications. He retired from Lucent in 1985.

In retirement Joe enjoyed playing golf (he played regularly into his 90s) and volunteering with the Lucent Pioneers. He and Carmella traveled with the group on vacations in the Catskills and the US Virgin Islands. Joe remained very close with his brothers and sisters, and for many years he helped organize and support the extended Skrapits family reunion. Joe was a parishioner at the cathedral church of St. Catherine of Siena in Allentown.

Joseph and Carmella are gratefully remembered for their love, hard work and devotion to raising their family in a protective, nurturing and enlightened environment. They set an example of compassion for others that stemmed from their own backgrounds as children of immigrants. We thank the staff at Galilee House, Moravian Hall Square, for the excellent care Joe received there. Funeral arrangements are with Stephens Funeral Home, Inc. (www.stephensfuneral.com) Services will be private.