The family of Joseph P. Arway Jr. sadly announces his passing in November 2022.
Born in Perth Amboy, he was the son of Joseph P. Arway Sr. and Rita Marie McShea-Arway. He was the older brother to Arthur and Bruce, brother-in-law to Rosemary Harding-Arway and uncle to Jennifer Melton, Rosemary Arway and Stacey Walther (predeceased). His family included many cousins on both sides of the parental relatives.
Joe lived in Atlantic Highlands, working various jobs at the marina, on party boats and at Tony’s U-Drive Boats. Joe graduated from Henry Hudson Regional School and soon after joined the U.S. Navy. He served on the destroyer USS Hardwood with the assignment as shore protection in the Tonkin Gulf, Vietnam.
After leaving the Navy, he attended the LaGuardia School of Aeronautics, receiving a degree in airframe engineering. Working within the aeronautic industry was not for him and he migrated to the Annapolis, Maryland, area where he worked at the U.S. Naval Academy in the Officer’s Sailing Fleet. Later, he continued his work on the water for several years, sailing new sail yachts from a dealership near the Chesapeake to marinas in the Caribbean.
Trying different ventures in both the Jacksonville Beach and Orlando, Florida, areas, Joe worked in a few boatyards in the Key West area and drove taxis on Key West for nearly 15 years. He liked camping and hiked the Appalachian Trail in his early life, which he claimed was where he developed his free spirit wanderlust.
After leaving Key West, for the rest of his life he traveled the mid-West and western states, going from campground to campground in his camper van. Travels ranged from North Dakota to “the slab” in southern California.
We have so many great memories of Joe, with all of us at one time or another, at holidays, picnics, family gatherings and road trips. He will be missed.
“All those who wander are not lost.”
The article originally appeared in the March 16 – 22, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
