Joseph T. Cral

Joseph Thomas Cral “Tommy” , and more recently “Joe”, was called home peacefully July 30, 2022 surrounded by family and friends. Born May 14, 1950 in Morristown NJ to John A Cral and Josephine Albensi, Tommy was a beloved brother to Johnny (Lori, John, Tony), Jimmy (Liane, Erin), JoAnn and Lowell Walker and Theresa and Phil Cavallo (Sophia).  He was a loving nephew to Aunt Elsie and Great Uncle to Jordan, Olivia, Anna, Nora and Ryan. 

Tommy made friends wherever he went and was always eager to offer help to friends and family.  He truly had a heart of gold, and many qualities we would all like to have more of. His kindness and ability to “stay on the sunny side” lifted others and will be greatly missed.

Tommy played football from the PeeWees team through Morris Hills HS and enjoyed playing with family in the yard growing up.  He built a beautiful home in Frankford Twp. where he enjoyed raising animals; pigs, turkeys, cows and guinea hens to name a few. But mostly, he enjoyed just sitting on his porch looking out at the view.

He was a carpenter by trade, however, medical issues in the year 2000 made it impossible for him to continue working. He missed working until the very end and spoke of it often.

His next adventure began when he bought a camper van and drove his tiny house around the country, making the rounds to visit family from NJ to Arizona and Utah, spending many summers in NJ. It was always important for him to keep his family in touch with each other. 

Finally settling in sunny Florida, he was able to spend lots of time with his brother John (coffee at WaWa of course) and was richly blessed with good friends at the Sun City Trailer park in Wimauma FL, where he was always known as “Joe”. The family greatly appreciated the care and devotion that everyone there showed to Tom as his health declined. 

Tom appreciated the simple life, rocking on the porch and taking in the beauty of nature with his trusty companion Jo-z. Tom loved deeply and was loved by many.  He always said  “We have God on our Side.”  which we are sure helped him in hard times.  Though we’ll miss him dearly,  we feel comforted to use his farewell phrase “see ya when I see ya” and trust that we’ll meet again. 

Services will be held 10:00AM on Saturday, September 17 at Locust Hill Cemetery,  168 North Sussex Street, Dover, NJ 07801.

Donations can be made to the following organizations that provided the most wonderful care he needed most during his last stage of life. I am sure he would say especially the early morning cigarette smokes at Sun City Hospice! 

LifePath Hospice - Designated to “Sun City Center Hospice House” 

https://lifepathhospice.chaptershealth.org/GeneralDonation 

Affinity Hospice New Jersey

https://affinityhealthmanagement.com/donation/

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