JOSEPH HENRY BISHER OF ST. LOUIS PASSED AWAY ON DEC. 30, 2025. HE WAS BORN IN ORAN, MISSOURI ON AUG.15, 1928. HE WAS A KOREAN WAR VETERAN, WAS EMPLOYED BY THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS. IN RETIREMENT HE AND HIS WIFE GREETED GUESTS AT THE GATEWAY ARCH. HE WAS A FAITHFUL MEMBER TO HIS AMERICAN LEGION, HOLDING MANY POSITIONS.
ON JULY 7, 1960 HE WAS MARRIED TO HIS LOVE OF LIFE, ELLIE. SHE PASSED AWAY IN AUG. 2017. HE IS SURVIVED BY TWO GRAND CHILDREN, KELLY BOMMARITO AND PHILIP PONCIROLI AND THREE GREAT GRAND CHILDREN. ALSO A SISTER-IN-LAW SHIRLEY BISHER AND MANY NEPHEWS AND NIECES. HE WAS PRECEDED IN DEATH BY HIS PARENTS, JOE AND ANNIE BISHER; HIS SIBLINGS: MARTIN, SIMON, FERDINAND AND EARL BISHER AND RITA WITGES. ALSO SON-IN-LAW AND DAUGHTER-IN-LAW: JOSEPH AND PHYLLIS PONCIROLI.
INTERMENT WILL BE AT JEFFERSON BARRACKS NATIONAL CEMETERY ALONG SIDE OF HIS LOVING WIFE ON JAN.16, 2026.
I met Joe by chance in a grocery store when I thanked him for his service in the Korean War. I told him my Uncle Tom, who was deceased, was also in the Korean War. It turns out they were best friends! From there a friendship was forged. I would meet him for breakfast at Denny’s where he loved to go. I visited him at his house and out at the senior living facility many times. We enjoyed a lot of stories and a lot of good times. My last visit seeing him I knew things were changing. He asked me if I had ever been there before. I would call the front desk to check on him and see how he was doing, he could never hear the phone when I would call. Then they told me he wasn’t living there anymore. I never knew where he ended up, and I had no way of knowing where he went. I unfortunately didn’t see his obituary until after his service. I feel very honored to have known him and lucky for the time that we had. He was a great guy and I will miss him.