Joseph – known as Joe to friends and family – was involved in the liberation of France, for which he received the Légion d’honneur military honour from the French Government.
Having signed up in 1943 at the age of 18, Joseph served as a stoker in the Royal Navy. During the Second World War, he was involved in the Marseille landings – an operation in the south of France that acted as a diversion to draw attention away from the Normandy operation. He went on to serve in Operation Shingle at Anzio, in Italy, which led to the liberation of Rome.
Joseph died on December 16. He leaves a daughter Patricia Lohan, son-in-law Richard, three grandchildren and eight great grandchildren. He was married to Margaret for 58 years. She died in 2008 and on Thursday a family funeral service and burial will take place in Worsley, Greater Manchester.
Patricia, of Copmanthorpe, led the tributes to Joseph who grew up in the Greater Manchester area but settled in York five years ago.
She said: "He was quite unassuming and loved being with his family. He hardly had a day's illness in his life.
"He was 99 and you expect them to go on for ever. We will miss him.
"Our children and grandchildren saw a lot of him and he loved them. He played with them and had endless patience and taught them lots of card games."
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