His mind was mechanical and exacting, his hands always in motion. Joe’s biggest outlet came from model trains. An S Gauge enthusiast (he considered them the most realistic) and a train buff from the days of his youth. He built all his models from scratch; the houses featured everything down to furniture in the rooms and curtains on the windows. Of course, he could build just about anything; everyone had a few pieces of his furniture, bookcases and toy boxes and he even built his own sailboat, as wide as it was long. He was a mechanical designer for Scott Paper for most of his career. He was one of the few people in the world who love what they do for a living: “Can you believe I get paid for this?” And sometimes his skills and hobbies lined up perfectly: he did many a drawing for model train magazines over the years. He loved classic rock (Buffet, Steely Dan, Foreigner, Elton John) and served our nation in the army as a draftsman in Hawaii. He was born and raised in Swedesboro, was a graduate of Swedesboro High School Class of ’61 and lived in Mannington Twp.
At work he earned more than just a paycheck; it’s there he’d meet a pretty girl named Judy. They’d share a 36-year marriage. He is survived by his sons, Joseph Kimber, Mike Thompson and Steve (Michelle) Kimber; grandchildren, Jacob, Avery, Joshua, Finn and Paige; his brothers, Edward and Dade Howell.
Come celebrate 80 great years Tuesday Dec. 5, 10 to noon at Daley Life Celebration Studio, Swedesboro where there will be a noon service. Interment Lake Park Cemetery, Woolwich.
2 Comments
Rest in Peace Joe
I worked with Joe in the late 80s and early 90s mostly on projects at the Scott Dover plant. He was a great colleague and a great mechanical designer.