Joseph Caruso

Joseph Caruso, at the wonderful age of 98, passed away on July 27, 2026, in Greenville, South Carolina, the son of Frank and Pauline Pergola Caruso. Born in Monongahela on March 28, 1928, Joe was a lifelong resident of Monongahela and Carroll Township. He was a 1945 graduate of Monongahela High School and attended Pennsylvania State College for his freshman year before a two-year enlistment as an Aviation Machinist Mate in the U.S. Navy. He received his BA degree cum laude from Washington and Jefferson College in 1951 with ROTC Distinguished Military Graduate honors and a 2nd Lieut. He was called into active duty in 1951 during the Korean War and served until 1953. He later attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

Joe began a career in transportation in 1954 with the Al Zeffiro Transfer & Storage Company of Donora, PA, and was executive Vice President and General Manager of both the Zeffiro company and Mawson & Mawson trucking firm of Langhorne, PA, when the latter acquired the Zeffiro firm in 1968. With a career change in 1973, he was employed as Vice President of Mon Valley Provision Company Inc. in Charleroi, PA, and founded Jaycee Foods Inc. in 1981. He served as President of Jaycee Foods until 1995, when he assumed a consulting role as his daughter became President at their new location in North Charleroi. The Company discontinued operations in 2013.

Joe was active in both community and business affairs, serving as Chairman of the Employers Insurance Trust Fund of Teamsters Union Local No. 872 for fifty years, founding board member and later president of the Mon Valley United Health Services, President of the Monongahela Board of Education, and president of the Greater Monongahela Joint Board of Education, founding Board member of the Mid- Monongahela Development Association (MIDA) and he was executive board member of the Mon Valley Progress Council. He was president of the Mon Valley Music Association and a Life member of the Monongahela Valley Country Club.

Joe was preceded in death by his wife, Elizabeth (Gil)Caruso; his parents; and sisters, Nellie Caruso Volker and Virginia Caruso Costa. He is survived by his son, Dr. Garson M. Caruso (Vicki) of Mechanicsburg, PA; daughter Dana Caruso Slagle(Randall) of Taylors, SC; brother Thomas Caruso of Cleveland, OH; grandson Scott J. Shirreffs of Pittsburgh, PA; and brother-in-law, David W. Gillingham of Monongahela, PA, as well as numerous nephews and nieces.

There will be no public viewing.