Joe and his wife Sue are neighbors of mine. Nearly 10 years ago, he reached out and wanted to meet so we could chat about our mutual hobby.
We finally did and talked about all things radio, particularly the fun and goofy world that is pirate radio. Once he had completed work on his shortwave active loop, he graciously offered me one to use and I still use it today. The remote amp blew a couple of times mainly because local rodents had a taste for my coax. Never wanting to assume anything, I'd ask Joe about what the problem could be and he would just insist that I bring it by for him to repair. He'd never even let me pay him for the parts. That was Joe.
One day, he called to let me know Redhat was coming by. The three of us sat around the kitchen table chatting while Sue escaped to another room. I don't remember for sure, but I think the conversation lasted a pretty long time.
Sometimes when I was in the local grocery store, I'd hear someone call out "Hey Zane" and it would be Joe. We'd park our carts for a bit and take up the same topics while my wife would make her own escape. We'd finally break company when we realized we were blocking other shoppers.
The pandemic didn't help. I wouldn't see him in the store and would only catch a glimpse of him doing woodworking in his garage as I drove by. I should have just pulled in the driveway. Hindsight.
The picture from the link is what I always see when I think of him. While we never talked about hockey, he was obviously a big Chicago Blackhawks fan. I never saw him without a Blackhawks hat.
I'll miss you Joe.
Z