Richard ‘Leo’ Joosten, Sr.

HAVERHILL - It is with great sadness that the family of Richard Leo Joosten, Sr. announces his passing on May 28, 2024 at the age of 98 (or his “99th year”, as he liked to say).

Dick was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, worked hard during the Depression and excelled in school, and was named Valedictorian of his high school graduating class. He was selected to the wartime V-12 Navy College Officer Training Program, which let him pick a top college. As a Catholic and longtime Fighting Irish fan, Dick chose Notre Dame, a school he would root for and return to the rest of his life.

After graduating with a degree in Chemical Engineering and a stint in the Navy as the war ended, Dick joined the American Can Company in Maywood, IL, the start of a long and successful career. Dick loved the challenges that came with innovation and product development and rose to top-level management positions at American Can and, later, Ex-Cell-O Corporation. He loved traveling the country and the world for his work, as well as leading teams of researchers and engineers, and earned credit on close to a dozen patents.

Dick met Betty, the love of his life, in his senior year of college-their happy and loving marriage lasted 52 years, until her passing in 2003. He and Betty raised three children, and Dick’s career took the family to homes in Illinois, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Michigan. Dick and Betty retired to Williamsburg, Virginia in 1987, a town they both loved and were proud to show their many visitors. Together, they spent their retirement exploring their new community, traveling, volunteering with Meals on Wheels, walking in nature and watching the birds, visiting family and friends, doting on their grandchildren, and most of all just enjoying their time together.

Dick had 20 more years of retired life without Betty. Always moving forward and embracing life, he continued to thrive in Williamsburg, his adopted “home” town. He was a longtime volunteer for St. Bede Catholic Church and shared his love of history with visitors to Jamestown Settlement. He also continued delivering meals for Meals on Wheels until age 96! Dick loved to golf and was fortunate to have a regular group with whom he developed meaningful friendships. Forever curious, he was an avid reader (he was usually working through more than one book at a time, and his Kindle showed him to be partway through Immanuel Kant’s “Critique of Pure Reason”)! A life-long learner, he was a frequent student at classes for residents offered by the College of William and Mary. 

For the last 19 months Dick was fortunate to be a resident at Benchmark at Haverhill Crossing in Massachusetts. True to his nature, he fully engaged with his new community and made the most of it. He was energized by the enriching social opportunities that surrounded him and he developed meaningful friendships with both residents and staff. He appreciated having family close by, and he would say these last months were both expanding and deeply meaningful. The last video his family has of him shows him spinning his partner on the dance floor a week before he left us. His passing leaves a void in our lives.

Dick leaves behind his children Kathy Ruane and her husband Jim, Rick Joosten and his wife Yolanda, David Joosten and his wife Mary; his grandchildren Dan, Nathan, Kyler, Sara and Brian, and his great-grandchildren Olivia and Noah; as well as his sister Rosemary Potter, niece and nephews Mary Ellen Sellars, Michael Bodine and John Potter and many dear friends - all will miss him greatly.

Service and interment in Celebration of Dick's Life will take place in Williamsburg, VA and will be announced at a later date. Arrangements by Driscoll Funeral Home, Haverhill. For guestbook, visit www.driscollcares.com

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Richard ‘Leo’ Joosten, Sr., please visit our floral store.