Support for the Irrera Family

The BEST man I know is fighting stage four Non-Hodgkins Leukemia/Lymphoma. Joseph Irrera is a 66-year-old United States Marine Veteran, grandfather of three, uncle, brother, father, and husband. For atleast three years, he has suffered from exhaustion and choking/suffocation in his sleep. Doctors kept sending him for sleep apnea testing which he passed with flying colors; and it wasn't until Joe's recent sinus infection that doctors agreed something just wasn't right. After months of testing, biopsys, and visits with multiple doctors, he was finally diagnosed. Unfortunately, Joe’s cancer is aggressive and has spread to lymph nodes all over his body. Joe is the ROCK of our family! He holds us together and shows us all what being selfless truly means. The news that the cancer has metastasized to other organs in the body is scary, but our family has faith in God’s plan for this season in our lives. We remain hopeful and ready to fight together.
To get just a small glimpse of what a special man Joe is, envision someone that cherishes family get togethers of all kinds, breakfast at Shadybrook Maple, or his beloved, Daddy Pop’s in Hatboro. A day spent going into his hometown of “South Philly” just to pick up locatelli cheese at Claudio's with family or friends to make the most out of the trip.

He is the man that protects us all. He is the standard, ex-marine father figure watching over all “his girls”, evaluating the boys they bring home and not afraid to scare them a little bit with his protectiveness. He encourages his boys to be men, teaching, by example, how to treat women and how to take care of a family.

He is the man that truly loves his family! He loves his granddaughters Olivia, Rogue, and Emery. He loves his nieces and his nephews. He loves his children, Joey and Ravyn, more than anything in this world. He loves his wife, Joanne, whom he does everything with and everything for. He ends every goodbye, every text, and every phone call with “I love you, baby” and you know he means it.

He is the man you can count on. I say this without exaggeration! I mean he is truly the most selfless individual our family has ever known. In any situation, he volunteers to help, whether he jumps up as soon as dinner is finished to clean the entire kitchen (yes, the entire kitchen, himself), picks up and drops off (or just spends time with) any of the nieces and nephews, and always gives up his time to devote it to others’ needs.

He is the man who loves all things Italian (Sicilian) culture.
He is the man who will watch Jaws and Rocky every single week and never get tired of it.
He is the man who loves Motown and Mario Lanza.
He is the man who is hardworking, every day, even when stricken with exhaustion.
He is the man who loves “his girls” on the news, specifically Cecily Tynan, and will not watch anything but 6ABC.
He is the man with the stories from Marine bootcamp that will make you laugh, but also a bit shocked.
He is the man who loves and trusts in God.
He is the man that we all rely on and love dearly.

Joe and his wife will be spending the next six months in and out of the hospital while he receives chemotherapy treatment and most likely a bone marrow transplant after that. He was told he will not be able to work during treatment and his wife, Joanne, works a hard labor job as a housekeeper for many residential customers and professional office employers. Joanne's income solely relies on being at her customer’s homes or offices every single day with no vacation or sick days. Because this news has been difficult for all of us, we can only imagine how Joe’s immediate family must be coping, and instead of worrying about how they will survive financially, we would like their only concern to be of Joe’s health. Joanne herself just recently had a tumor removed from inside her ear that was pressing on her brain which caused hearing loss. Joe was at her side every step of the way, NEVER thinking of himself. He was so worried for her because they are best friends and he truly LOVES her. With bills still coming in from that surgery, they are now embarking on this new stressful burden that has been placed in their paths.

For this reason, if anyone feels it in their heart to make a donation to support Joe and his family while they are beginning their journey to battle this aggressive cancer, we ask that you make a contribution of any amount that you can, and in advance we graciously thank you from the bottom of our hearts.