Joseph A. Noto, 88, of Phillipsburg, died Sunday, December 2, 2007 in the Lopatcong Center.

A 1961 graduate of American Academy of Embalming and Mortuary Research, he owned and operated the Joseph A. Noto Funeral Home in Phillipsburg from 1965 until his retirement in 1991. He formerly worked for the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company and as a pattern maker for the former Warren Foundry and Pipe Co., Phillipsburg.

Born July 12, 1919 in Phillipsburg, he was a son of the late Santo and Rose Testa Noto.

A sergeant in the Army Air Force during World War Two, Joe flew thirty-four B-17 bombing mission with his brother, Carmen, in Europe and Italy as a radioman.

He was a member of St. Philip and St. James Roman Catholic Church, Phillipsburg, where he served as an usher for many years.

He was a 1937 graduate of Phillipsburg High School.

He was a past exalted ruler of the Phillipsburg Lodge 395, B.P.O.E.; a charter member of the Y.M.I.A., Phillipsburg and was a long-time member of the Pomfret Club, Easton.

His wife of fifty-nine years, the former Antoinette Conzalaro, died March 9, 2003.

Survivors include a son, Joseph A. Noto, Jr. and his wife, Cathy, of Forks Township; a daughter, Rose Ann LaFisca and her husband Thomas of Yardley, Pa., a granddaughter, Tanya Garren and her husband Patrick and two great-granddaughters, Hailey and Ellie-Anna Garren; a brother-in-law, Thomas Fagan; a sister-in-law, Renee Noto and several nieces and nephews. Two brothers, Anthony and Carmen, and a sister, Rose Fagan, all died earlier.

Services will begin 9:00 a.m. Thursday in the Noto-Wynkoop Funeral Home, 289 South Main St., Phillipsburg, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 9:30 a.m. in the church, 426 South Main St., Phillipsburg. Burial will be in the parish cemetery, Greenwich Township. Visitation will be held Wednesday from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. in the funeral home. Online condolences may be submitted by visiting www.noto-wynkoop.com.

Those planning an expression of sympathy are asked to consider donations to the church, 430 South Main St., Phillipsburg, NJ, 08865.