Birth date: Jan 5, 1943 Death date: Feb 11, 2026
Please click here to attend the service virtually. Please no flowers per family request- make a donation to hospice in Joseph's memory- Joseph James Tilki Jr., 83, passed away on February 11, 2026, in Pinellas Park, Florida, at Read Obituary
I remember when we were teenagers Ja had a 16 foot wooden boat with a small 25hp outboard motor. Both our parents had 35 foot cabin cruisers and were at Port Jefferson NY anchored up in consceince bay.
What ever the reason Ja and I preceded to go from Grandpa Hoppys boat yard and surprise our parents.
It was not a calm day in Long Island Sound with 3 foot waves I thought we were both going to drown and all we could do was just hang on !
But Ja kept going and we made it across some how and surprised our parents!
Jay was an avid story teller. He prepared you with a glint in his eyes, smirky smile and laughing as he shared his tales. No detail was left out.
The last story we get to remember was about a priest visiting him in his room at the hospital. He got the biggest grin on his face and smiling eyes. Jay says “Do you know what I told that priest?”
Chuckling Jay shares the famous words of Oscar Wilde “I don’t want to go to heaven. None of my friends are there”
Thank you Jay for being our friends.
Mary Ellen and Helen
To my father in law.
Thank you for being such a great papa to my little girls. The way you would smile from ear to ear when they walked in the room, would fill my heart with such love. We will miss you papa, we love you.
