Danvers…

Joseph Matthew Mahoney died at home in Danvers on Saturday evening, July 7, 2012. He was 90 years' old. Joe was born in Salem, Massachusetts on September 14, 1921, to the late Mary Kellaghan, formerly of Shrule, County Mayo, Ireland and John J. Mahoney, formerly of Ballyporeen, County Tipperary, Ireland. He was the husband of Norma J. (Nihan) Mahoney, and the brother of the late John J. Mahoney, Architect of Salem; the late Ruth Kearns of Marblehead; and the late Helen Slager of Salem.

Joe graduated from St. Mary's Boys High School in Lynn in 1938 and took post-graduate courses at Salem High School. In June 1941 he entered the U.S. Merchant Marine Cadet Corp., renamed shortly thereafter, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, in Kings Point, New York. He was admitted on the basis of a national competitive examination in which he placed 12th out of 25,000 applicants. In February 1943 he graduated from the Academy. Upon graduation, he was called to active duty as an Ensign by the U.S. Navy. After eight months of naval engineering courses, he was assigned to the USS Maloy, DE791, as the Chief Engineer. After many months of convoy duty in the Atlantic, the Maloy arrived off the beach of Normandy one hour before H hour on D Day. The Maloy was the auxiliary flagship of the invasion.

After V-E Day, Joe was assigned as an engineering instructor at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. In 1949 he became a Sales Engineer for the Gulf Oil Corporation in the NY Sales Division. He resigned in 1960 to start his own business, Chemical Applications Co., Inc. The company acid cleaned boilers, piping systems, evaporators, etc., on U.S. Navy vessels at Naval Shipyards along the Atlantic Coast. In 1972 he started a second business, Marine Dehumidification Co. At first, this company was primarily involved in laying up Naval and Merchant Marine vessels with dehumidifiers for long time preservation. In subsequent years, however, the company expanded into selling, renting and servicing commercial dehumidifiers and other environmental control equipment to companies in a broad range of industries.

Joe was a Registered Professional Engineer, a licensed Refrigeration Contractor, and a licensed USCG Marine Chief Engineer – unlimited horsepower. He was National President of the Alumni Association of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy for five years. He was also a '43 Class Agent for the Alumni Association. He was a Commodore of the Jubilee Yacht Club in Beverly and a Rear Commodore of the City Island Yacht Club in New York. In 1979 he sailed to Ireland on his 50 ft. Ketch, Tramore, returning in 1980. He was a Diesel Instructor, evenings, at the Wentworth Institute; Contributing Writer for McGraw Hill Publications; and a Past President of the Quanapowitt Radio Association, a Ham Radio group of Wakefield and Reading. He held a U.S. Patent for a calculator that solves equations of five variables.

He leaves his wife Norma J. Mahoney of Danvers; a son, Mark J. Mahoney of Swampscott; three daughters, Sharon L. Mahoney of Danvers, Joanne B. Hudson of Wareham and Marianne P. Noha of Swampscott; a granddaughter, Jessica C. Noha of Swampscott; and four step-children from his marriage to Norma, Charles Krol, Michael Krol, John Krol and Debbie Krol.

Joe's Funeral will be held on Thursday, July 12, 2012 at 10:15 a.m. from the Murphy Funeral Home, 85 Federal St. (cor. of North St.) Salem followed by a Funeral Mass at St. James Church, 156 Federal St., Salem at 11:00 a.m. Visiting hours will be held at the Funeral Home on Wednesday from 4:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend. Internment will be in St. Mary Cemetery, Salem. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Hospice of the North Shore and Greater Boston, 75 Sylvan St., Suite B-102, Danvers, MA 01923. For additional information or the online guest book please call 978 744 0497 or visit www.MurphyFuneralHome.com.