Joe deeply loved his daughter, Eva. We set up a Virginia 529 in Joe's memory to help support Eva's education. This money will be available to Eva for educational costs. There are two ways to contribute:
1. Directly at https://www.virginia529.com/gifting/ using gift ID 397ZLI4 . You'll set up an account and contribute right to the 529 from your bank account following these steps:
— Select “Contribute Online”
— Create account
— Select “Give to an Individual Account”
— Enter gift ID 397ZLI4 and confirm gift is for Eva (note gift ID contains an “I” and not the number 1).
— Input Banking info + donation amount
— In “Email Gift To” field insert:
JosephMemorial529 (at symbol) g m ail . co m (please remove spaces…GoFundMe is not making this easy)
2. Via GoFundMe. All funds (minus fees) will go directly to Eva's 529.
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Joseph Morales, 36, was a really beautiful guy. He was a frequently intense, insightful, deeply passionate, almost always winsome, often aggravating, frequently antagonistic, beautiful guy. He loved in deep, compassionate ways and his life affected so, so many people.
Joe’s presence changed everything. You might know Joe as the uncle who threw gift-wrapped toilet paper rolls out the window for a three-year-old's drive-through pandemic birthday party and absolutely delighted his nieces and nephews with magic tricks and Lego creations. You may know him as the groom who rigged elaborate, delicate, artful creations to decorate the banquet hall for his marriage to Sara Patterson. You may know him as the dad who could both grieve pregnancy loss and be the adoring father to his beautiful daughter Eva. You might know him as the crowd-pleasing comedic, or as the voice pretending to be the Forsyth County Public Library calling about overdue books. You might have seen him on stage with The Little Theater, impressing with his vocal performance in the play Born A Unicorn. You’ve probably seen him at Finnigan’s Wake, Rec Billiards, the old Garage, or other local haunts. Maybe he won you over just to prove that he could. Or maybe you were a friend who stood alongside him as he grieved or raged or waxed philosophical. Or you might know him as the son who, after being bowled over by an ocean wave as a toddler, told a cat, “Cat, know what? I flipped over in the water.”
Joe. Not-so-average Joe. He worked as an in-home caretaker, a commercial store setup manager, a home renovator, a florist and gardener, and most recently as a Forsyth County Parks & Rec employee. He was a songwriter and a poet with a knack for the prophetic, edgy, irreverent, and profound. He loved baked spaghetti and hated pretension. He delighted in hosting visitors and creating experiences for others. Joe deeply loved and was deeply loved, and it was the deepest honor to make Joe laugh to the point of losing himself until you could see his face brighten in a self-forgetful way. Because you could never pin Joe down, his list of connections and activities seems endless, complex, and mysterious in a way that Joe would have appreciated.
Joe passed away due to complications from heatstroke on June 28, 2021, surrounded by friends and family. He is survived by his wife, Sara, and daughter, Eva; his parents, Ruben and Judy; his siblings Emily (Scott), Luke (Rachael), Laura (Richard), and Daniel; in-laws Fred, Deborah, Brent, Avery, and Tiffany; his 7 nieces and nephews; and countless friends like the Avery and Tomkinson families, Joshua Hopkins Bugajski, David Sutton, Jon Eric Johnson, Jim Feete, and Ben Broderson.
He will be deeply missed and always remembered. 