Honoring the Memory
of Those
We Love

Joseph Tarkett, age 82, suddenly on Sunday, November 27, 2022, of the South Side slopes. Joseph was born and raised in Hawley, PA and lived there with his parents, sister, and three brothers until his graduation from Hawley High School in 1958. He attended Keystone Junior College, where he met his wife of 60 years, Frances Vauter, and earned an Associates Degree in Engineering. He then went on to Penn State University where he received his Bachelor’s Degree in Architectural Engineering. Upon graduation, he began a 35-year career as an engineer with U.S. Steel Corporation in Pittsburgh, working on a variety of projects throughout the country and traveling to other parts of the world. From the time he was in his teens, Joe was an active member of the Catholic church. As an adult, he taught CCD at St. Mary’s Church in Glenfield and co-led the RCIA program, with his wife, at Duquesne University’s Campus Ministry and St. Stephen’s Church in Hazelwood. He also led over a dozen mission trips to Appalachia, Immokalee, FL, and New Orleans with students from Duquesne. After retiring from U.S. Steel, Joe attended Duquesne University where he earned a Master’s Degree in Liberal Studies with a focus on gerontology and later supervised the Alzheimers unit at Prime Time in Bethel Park. Service to others was at the core of his being, and, although involved with many activities outside the home, Joe’s heart was always focused mainly on his family. He loved being with his wife, daughters, and grandchildren at their many family gatherings and vacation trips. His quirky sense of humor is one of their fondest memories and lives on in them. He will be profoundly missed by his wife, his three daughters Laura Tarkett Blumberg, Lisa Tarkett Reed, and Donna Tarkett, sons-in-law, Victor Blumberg, Marc Reed, and Bill Palowitch, his grandchildren Joseph, Amber, Erin, and Adam, James, Jaxson, and Percy his sister-in-law, Barbara Vauter, and his many nieces and nephews. A private family visitation was held and friends are invited to attend his Funeral Mass on Thursday, December 1, 2022 at Mary Queen of Peace Parish, St. Mary of the Mount Church at 10:00 a.m. Arrangements handled by the John F. Slater Funeral Home, Inc., 412-881-4100, 4201 Brownsville Road, Brentwood 15227.