With sadness we share the news of the death of Emil Joseph Piel, 98, on Sunday, February 5, 2017. Joe was active in the life of the diocese for more than four decades. A Memorial Service will be held at St. Peter’s Church in Essex Fells on Saturday, February 11, 2017 at 12 noon, followed by the burial at the Garth.
Relatives and friends may visit with the family at Paul Ippolito-Dancy Memorial, 9 Smull Ave., Caldwell, on Thursday, February 9, 2017 from 4 to 8 p.m. For directions or to send the family condolences please visit, www.ippolitofuneralhomes.com.
Born in Fairview, Joe lived in North Caldwell most of his life and was employed by the East Orange and Caldwell school systems before becoming principal at West Essex High School, where he worked until 1966. He also held other educational positions at the Polytechnic Institute in Brooklyn and SUNY in Stony Brook, and published various books and articles on science, technology and society.
A World War II veteran and recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross, Joe served with the Marines as a Dive Bomber Pilot before retiring as a Colonel.
Joe’s service in the Diocese of Newark spanned from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, and included:
- Eight consecutive General Convention Deputations: 1973, 1976*, 1979*, 1982, 1985, 1988, 1991 and 1994* (*1st Alternate)
- Provincial Synod Deputations in 1979 and 1981
- Six terms on Diocesan Council: 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1992 and 1994
- Commission on Ministry Classes of 1973, 1976, 1987 and 2002
- Chair of ACTS VIM in the mid-1980s
- Department of Christian Education 1968, 1972 and 1981
- Diocesan Budget Committee
- Diocesan Art & Architecture Committee 1988 - 1991
- Charter Member of the Ward J Herbert Fund Board and the Environmental Commission
- Diocesan Stewardship Commission 1992
- 1990 Environmental Task Force
- 1992 Task Force on Racial Inclusiveness
Predeceased by his first wife, Elizabeth and second wife, May Belle Buck, Joe was the loving father of Jack and Eleanor Piel, and Elizabeth and Robert Lech; dear grandfather of Robert, Benjamin, Jennifer, Barak and Joshua and adored great-grandfather of Kit, Ava and Cora.
In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to Marines Care, Slattery Detachment 206, P.O. Box 566, West Caldwell, NJ 07007-0566 (please put Emil Piel on memo line of check) or online at www.marinescare.org.
God, our Father, we thank you that you have made each of us in your own image,
and given us gifts and talents with which to serve you.
We thank you for Joe, the years we shared with him,
the good we saw in him, the love we received from him.
Now give us strength and courage, to leave him in your care,
confident in your promise of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
