Joseph Patrick Crone

Joseph P. Crone peacefully departed this world on Friday, March 27, 2026, at 12:59 pm. His death came on suddenly, but fortunately, he was surrounded by his beloved wife, Rosemarie (Christman) Crone and all six of their dear children. His large extended family was with him, either in person because they were able to run fast enough, or in spirit. As was fitting his deep devotion to his Rosie, he passed away precisely 66 years after he first vowed to love, honor, cherish, and obey her all the days of his life. He honored those vows every single day of those 66 years. Although, truth be told, Rose often did remind him that he slept really soundly at night.

It is impossible to capture Joseph Crone in a simple obituary.Hopefully, this provides a glimpse.Joe was a large man whose presence was felt whenever he entered a room. He had a quiet confidence and steadfastness that was underlaid by incredibly strong principles. Joe greeted every person he met with laughter in his eyes, a Dad joke in his back pocket, and an open heart. Despite his imposing size, the two words most often used to describe Joe Crone were “kind” and “gentle”. Whenever Joe and his wife, Rose, heard of someone in need, their response was always “How can we help?” Whether it was a total stranger or a close relative, the response was always the same.Joe and Rose were always ready to help - by lending an ear, offering sound advice, renovating a room, putting out a car fire or even helping get your moving truck out of a ditch.

Which brings us to another tenet of Joe’s life philosophy. For every one of life’s big challenges, Joe’s viewpoint was that nothing that happened was really that bad if “Nobody got hurt.” Two daughters totaled 2 cars on Mother’s Day with all six kids and one cousin in the cars. But, Nobody got hurt. One daughter’s house was burned to the ground, but she got herself and all her dogs out safely. It would be hard, but it was okay because Nobody got hurt. Just before signing the trade-in slip and getting the keys for his brand-new van, his old van burst into flames on the new car parking lot. But, Nobody got hurt. With that perspective, what could have been a tragedy was turned into a humorous story. And, as anyone who knows Joe and Rose’s children can tell you… the Crones have a lot of humorous stories to tell.

We have now reached the part of the obituary where we recount Joe’s life events and provide some insight into how he became the man he was. Joseph was born on April 12, 1938 to Lillie Constance (Johnson) Crone and August Jacob Crone. He was devoted to his mother, and she relied heavily on him. However, his young years were not easy ones. When his sister, Connie, was born with a cerebral malformation that caused severe epilepsy, Joe needed to grow up quickly to help his mother with Connie’s care. Fortunately, his Uncle Burley (Papasan) Johnson and Aunt Georgia (Mamasan) Johnson stepped in to help his mother raise him. Joe attributes his defining life principles to the firm but loving guidance they provided. Joe loved them all deeply. Joe always considered himself to be a Johnson, and the Johnson Boys were Joe’s true brothers. And, like true brothers, the Johnson boys would go off on their own crazy adventures. But, as Joe would say with a gleam in his eye …”I is innocent.” Pause… “cause I never got caught.”

In 1959, Joe met Rose at a church dance, and they both quickly realized they had found their one true love. They have something that is rarely seen – a deep and true abiding love and an unflinching respect for one another. They were profoundly partners in every sense of the word. The years passed and soon Joe and Rose found themselves surrounded by six young rambunctious children with really vivid imaginations. Rather than trying to stifle their children, Joe and Rose gave them all of the tools to foster their creativity. So, the kids had a full library at their fingertips at home, including a set of World Book encyclopedias. They went to the public library every week to pick out the next batch of adventures to join. Soon, floor paste was added to wooden floors, and they became Olympic skating rinks. Foam mattresses became sleds flying down the Alps (the hardwood staircase). And a set of bunk beds became a pirate ship swaying violently on a Dark and Stormy Night. And his kids learned that they could do almost anything if they put their minds to it. [They also learned that they should probably not throw buckets of water into a box fan to recreate an ocean storm. But, those are stories for another day … because, fortunately, Nobody got hurt.]

When he married Rosemarie, Joe soon found himself part of a second family.Very quickly, he became one of the Christman brothers. At every family gathering, you would find him sitting with his Father-in-law and Brothers-in-law talking intently for hours. Often, you would hear Joe’s deep and booming laugh coming from the table. Tom Doxzen, Joe Christman, Tom Parr, and Paul Matrangola were his brothers by another mother.Rose’s youngest brother, Mark, was born when Rose was 18 years old. So, much like Uncle Burley did for Joe, the Christman men and women considered Mark as their eldest son.

Joe devoted his life to providing for his family. It was one central metric he used to measure his success.His contributions to the household began at the age of 12, when he started his first paper route. From that point on, Joe worked tirelessly to help support his family. His career began as an apprentice electrician at the Bethlehem Steel Company. He spent the next 15 years taking care of every part of the Steel Mill, from the sky-high cranes used to unload the raw materials from container ships to the great 2 story high vats used to heat the molten steel.When 2 of his friends and colleagues plunged to their deaths in tragic accidents at the Steel plant, Joe decided that, as father of 6 small children, he could not risk his life any longer.So, he quit the job at Bethlehem and found new work. At first, he tried working for a small appliance repair company. However, the owner turned out to be somewhat less than honorable.

Joe quickly found a new job working as an electrician at the Lever Brothers soap factory on Holabird Street in Baltimore. There, he became a master electrical troubleshooter. Every minute that the production line was down meant money was being lost. So, Joe learned ways to get the massive machinery back up and running within mere minutes. His skills at creative troubleshooting would give MacGyver a run for his money. Over the years, Joe did implement some of his “creative troubleshooting” solutions for home repairs… And, if you come to his memorial, you will hear some of the stories. Because, fortunately, Nobody got hurt.

The process of soap making involved caustic chemicals. And, after many years of hard work, Joe’s health was impacted by his exposure to them. Joe’s assignment to the sulphination plant was a final straw for Rose. As Joe struggled to breathe and his face took on an ashen pallor, Rose gave him an ultimatum. She said she was retiring … and he could either keep working or join her.And so began the next 33 yearlong adventure.

In 1993, Joe and Rose bought an RV and set out to see the world. Over the years, they took their RV to every corner of the continental USA, every province in Canada, and even into Alaska.Rose mapped out their travels and aimed to see every National Park, every monument, and every place of interest in the entire country. Joe was happy to take Rose anywhere her heart desired. But, their way of experiencing the sights was vastly different. At each place, Joe would find a nice comfy bench with a clear view of the trails. Rose would go exploring for hours, read every posted sign, talk to the park rangers, and learn everything there was to know about the site. At the end of the day, Rose would return to the bench where she left Joe and find him sharing a story and a coffee with his newest friend.Then, throughout the next few years, Rose would recount the stories of all that she saw on her outings.

When their oldest daughter and youngest son were living in Germany and Switzerland, Joe and Rose spent months exploring all corners of Europe with them.While in Europe, Joe joined more of the tours, wending his way through castles and palaces. And through it all, he was standing hand in hand with Rose as they listened to stories of kings and queens and knights in shining armor.

While Rose meandered across the country checking off the sites in her a mile long bucket list, Joe was content as long as he could bring his woodshop along.Every time they stopped to park their RV for a week or more, Pop-pop would drag out his magical woodshop and set it up. There, Pop-pop would lovingly make huge, beautiful doll houses for his grandchildren, and Ma would create a full set of furniture, and make quilts for the beds, rugs for the floors, and wallpaper on all the walls. Together, they made Noah’s Arks that were sturdy enough for 2 kids to ride on. And Ma made sure that each one was filled to the brim with handmade stuffed animals, always in pairs of two. Years later, the wooden gifts were replaced with 3D printed ones. They showered their kids and grandkids with Christmas ornaments and Easter eggs and fairy houses and dragons. These came with boxes filled with gorgeous quilts and placemats and table runners made lovingly by Ma.

For as long as they were able, Joe and Rose paused their travelling every year to spend months long vacations with their family.

As mentioned in the outset, Joe’s passing was very quick and unexpected.For many decades, his life lessons and wisdom provided comfort to his family. But, with his passing, we all are painfully aware that “Nobody Got Hurt” only works for car crashes and minor scrapes. For his wife of 66 years and the love of his life, for his 6 children and their spouses, for the 11 children who call him Pop-pop, and for his many brothers, sisters, friends and family - losing Joe Crone hurts all of us deeply and profoundly. But it’s okay. Because the price of loving someone so deeply is that their loss causes deep, enduring pain.

Joseph is mourned deeply by his loving wife of 66 years, Rosemarie (Christman) Crone;

his six children and their partners:

Elizabeth (and Richard) Mason, Carolyn Crone (and Anna Kubiak),

Robert Crone (and Mary Cameron), Michelle (and Michael) Harrod,

Brian Crone (and Ariane Eberhardt), and Kathleen (and John) Casper;

his 11 dear grandchildren:

Kristina (and Joshua) Duncan, Veronica Mason, Matthew Campion,

Cody (and Adelaide) Harrod, Patrick (and Christina) Campion, Kathryn Crone,

Michael Mason, Emily Crone, Katelynn Casper, Theresa Harrod, Michael Crone;

his 3 great grandchildren:

Delilah Duncan, Rose Duncan; Hailey Huber (step);

And his “adopted” brothers and sisters:

George (and Cathy) Johnson, Clifton Johnson,

Burley (and Lynn) Johnson,

Elsie (and Tom) Doxzen, Joe (and Angel) Christman,

Peggy (and Tom) Parr, Esther (and Paul) Matrangola,

Mark (and Becca) Christman

He was preceded in death by his parents, Gus & Lillie Crone,

his Uncle Burley and his Aunt Georgia, his sister, Constance Crone,

his father-in-law, Armand Christman, his mother-in-law, Mary Rose Christman,

his “sister-in-law”, Mary Jo Johnson, his “brother” Nils Johnson, and his brother-in-law, Tom Doxzen.

Over the summer, Rose Crone plans to return to Maryland to have a Celebration of Life ceremony for Joe. During that ceremony, you will hear many more stories … and hopefully will share in our tears and our laughter as we celebrate his life.

In January of 2027, Rose also plans to have another Celebration of Life at Val Vista Villages, once most of their friends have returned to the park for the winter.

Arrangements by Bunker’s Garden Chapel, www.bunkerfuneral.com. Should this obituary appear anywhere but bunkerfuneral.com, please check our website for accurate details and service information.