Medical & Burial Expenses

Joe Alestra passed suddenly from cardiac arrest on December 16, 2017 at the tender age of 57, in San Diego, CA. His family cannot afford the expenses of having a memorial service in California and then having a funeral and burial in New Jersey, so Joe can rest for eternity next to his father, who departed when Joe was a young child. His loss is devastating to his mother Jean who recently dealt with her own serious health issues, his brother Michael who is also struggling with health issues and can only work part time, and his sister Sandy, who was the apple of his eye. His sister in law Shelley was in the hospital with an acute medical diagnosis when the sad news came and was unable to fly to California to help. Joe was an amazing man who died too young. His life was not easy, and he needed multiple surgeries as an infant and child. His father Joseph died when he was a young child but he always remebered the time he had with him. Joe had childhood cataracts and glaucoma which ultimately resulted in 99% blindness. Despite his ongoing worsening vision, Joe became a Chef and for his last job he cooked for patients in a nursing home. He often used his own meager resources to buy extra food to make for the residents, to be sure they were happy and well fed. He was always a protector and would help anyone he thought was being wronged. After losing almost all of his eyesight, and in his fifties, Joe did what seemed to be impossible. He decided to go to college. In May 2016 we all celebrated his graduation from Palomar College and he had such a sense of pride for his accomplishment. Joe would have wanted to buried with his father in New Jersey, where his life began. Currently he and his mother and brother live in San Diego. There are extensive medical bills, funeral costs for a funeral on both the West Coast and the East Coast, the cost of transporting his body across the country and possible relocation costs to bring the family to the East Coast so Sandy and Shelley can care for them. We are trying to raise a minimum of $25,000 to cover the funeral and related costs but more will ease the financial burdens of a truly needy but wonderful family. Every dollar will help in this awful time of need. God Bless everyone for their outpouring of love and support. May Joe rest in peace for eternity and be reunited with his birth father, and heavenly father.