Joseph (“Joe”) Spinelli, a longtime resident of Montgomery died on October 24 at the age of 84 after a short illness.
He is survived by his wife Lillian(Klenk); sister Jane Spinelli; children Deborah Spinelli, Laurie (John) Cannon, Timothy (Michelle) Spinelli; grandchildren Rachel (Casey) Hust, Chelsea Spinelli, Claire (Nicholas) Burdett, Nathan (Moriah) Cannon, Maya Spinelli, and Brian Cannon; and great grandchildren Eliza and Esther Hust.
Joe was born January 14, 1937 in Orange, NJ to Rebecca (Small) and Joseph Spinelli. He put his faith in the Lord he loved at Word of Life Camp at the age of 13, and later rededicated his life to the Lord at Camp of the Woods. He and Lillian were married on June 3, 1961, and recently celebrated their 60th anniversary surrounded by their family. Because of the impact camps had had on his life, they moved from New Jersey up to New York State to be close to Pine Bush Bible Camp so they could be more involved in camp work. Joe and Lillian spent 50 years of their lives dedicated to the work of the Lord at Pine Bush Bible Camp, both in maintenance and in the office.
With a passion for sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, Joe was always looking for different ways to reach out. He conducted evangelistic “gym nights” with school age children for years. He took a leave of absence from his job at IBM in 1976 and took his family to Flagstaff, AZ for a year in order to work with the Navajo people at Southwestern School of Missions and on the reservation. He did roofing at Word of Life and Pine Bush Bible Camp; he volunteered at missions in Yonkers, Albany, and Newark; and he did relief work in New Orleans and Haiti. In his retirement years, he did open air evangelism in Hoboken and had a music ministry at many nursing homes, sharing the gospel through singing and playing the piano. He loved music and spent hours each day playing hymns and singing about the Lord. He also spent many hours reading the Bible, and especially loved the Psalms.
Joe was a faithful husband and an involved father. He took his family on many camping trips in their pop-up trailer, and overnight canoe trips with the youth group on the Fulton Chain of Lakes in the Adirondacks, as well as many hikes at Lake Minnewaska and canoe trips on the Delaware River with groups of campers from Pine Bush Bible Camp. He prayed for his children and grandchildren every day, and for that especially he will be sorely missed.
Visitation will take place Friday, October 29, from 2-4pm and 7-8pm at Millspaugh Funeral Home, 22 Bank St., Walden A service will follow at 8pm at the funeral home. Burial will take place privately.