Joseph John Gruber passed away with family by his side on June 4, 2022 at Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital, the Jean Waddle Hospice Care Center, in Somerset, Kentucky.
He was born February 11, 1930 in Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from St. George Catholic High School in Chicago in 1948. Joe then began his career in academia attending Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, finishing his Bachelors and Masters degrees. He completed his Doctorate in 1959. During his time at Purdue, he married Patricia Lorene Caylor, served two years in the Korean War, and had four children.
In 1967, after teaching and coaching at the West Lafayette area schools and Purdue University, Joe moved his wife and their four children to Lexington Kentucky, where he accepted a position at the University of Kentucky as the Department Chair of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation. After five years as Chairman, Joe continued as a professor, enjoying a career of teaching and research. He earned numerous teaching awards, authored or co-authored four books, and published dozens of scholarly research papers.
Retiring fully in 1989, he and his wife began traveling the U.S. while living at Lake Cumberland in the summers and wintering in Florida. Both locations served as gathering places for family and friends. Joe is best remembered as a devoted husband and father, his love of Lake Cumberland, physical fitness, and his strong work ethic.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Lorene, who passed away on April 15th of this year. Surviving are his four children, Cathy Matthews (Richard), Jody Loeffen (Albert), Mike Gruber (Phyllis Hancock), and Jay Gruber (Trudie Storey), eight grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.
Joseph and his wife will be interred at Mill Springs National Cemetery in Nancy, Kentucky.
