Sunday, October 20, 2013
I was shocked to hear the news this morning from my sister, Liz Beaudoin, about Joey's sudden passing. I knew Joey and all of the Hubert boys as a child growing up in Schenectady, NY, and I even lived with him for a while at his Aunt Marie's rental house in Rotterdam in 1979, when I was 17 years old. Joey got me my first "real" job at the Price Chopper in 1978, and he was a good friend to me, my cousin, A.J., and my other cousin, Cricket, whom Joey always called by his given name, Jimmy. Although I haven't lived in Schenectady for over 30 years, I saw Joey just over a year ago at the funeral of my stepfather, John Whitney, and he was the same as I always remembered him: funny, kind, and caring, with a big smile and an even bigger heart. I wish that I could have spent more time with him during the past few years—and I will miss him as a friend, a brother, and a kind, generous, and moral human being.
