Joseph Frank Maresh

Lion Member Profile of Joe Maresh

Lion Joe Maresh can accurately be described as an original Granger ranger. The "why" of that lead-in no doubt escapes you, but here's the deal: He was born April 4, 1941, in Granger, Texas, to Mary and Joe Maresh. And Granger? Well, It's northeast of Austin, about an hour away from the state capital by pickup truck, and thanks to Wikipedia, "was the site for the filming of the 2003 remake of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and the 2010 remake of the movie "True Grit"." The web site further describes the focal point of Granger's movie-making fame as the Hewitt House a "hauntingly beautiful, 6,000-square foot six-bedroom Southern plantation house that was built in Austin in the 1850's, then moved by train in the 1930's and rebuilt brick by brick where it now sits" off a Granger county road.

But enough of the Hewittocracy and on to our Joe, whose dad, the elder Joe - was a printer for a Czech ethnic newspaper that was distributed throughout the United States and some European countries. Young Joe's early education (grades 1 through 8) was in Catholic schools, and his graduation from Granger High School was in 1959.

During his high school years, he noted, "I used my uncle's trumpet to play in the school band, its marching band, and jazz band. I did not receive an allowance, but worked in cotton and corn fields to earn my spending money. Later, I worked in a small grocery store and full-service gas station. After high school I attended the University of Texas in Austin for two and a half years ... had a couple of scholarships and worked for the education department, mimeographing class tests. I could do that since I was an undetermined major. I also worked as a short-order cook for Toddle House, forerunner to Waffle House."

He went on to say that "I had not applied for a draft deferment and found out that my draft number was coming up. So I joined the Army, volunteered for its Security Agency, and went on to become a Czech language voice interceptor/translator." Following basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, he was sent to California to the Presidio of Monterey's Army Language School, where he graduated from a 12-month course in the Czech language in eight months. "While in Monterey," he added, "I met my future wife Marie at the local Catholic church." And after 18 months of service in Germany "I returned to Monterey and married Marie Rose Costanza. Together we raised three sons."

It was in 1965 that Joe gained employment with the Laurentide Finance Company. Then "after six months I went to work for Wells Fargo Bank as a teller and worked my way up to operations officer. In 1978 I was transferred to Orange, Calif., as part of the mergers & acquisitions team to merge a bank into Wells Fargo. After that stint was done, I became a branch manager in Anaheim, Calif., before leaving banking in 1989 and becoming a credit manager for the Noritsu America Corp., a Japanese company that pioneered the one-hour mini-lab photo finishing industry. Mini-lab brought film in to a local entity, he said, and "got your film developed and pictures printed in one hour." But "when the digital age hit in 2006, photo finishing as we knew it was finished." Consequently, "In March 2007 I accepted an employee buyout and in January 2008 I officially retired."

It was in 1975 when Joe became a volunteer for the Boy Scouts of America. He said "I became a Cubmaster, Scoutmaster and a trainer for other adult leaders" and joined the Order of the Arrow, "an honor camping society that stresses brotherhood and cheerful service. Marie also became a volunteer Scouter as a den leader, held various Scouting positions, and joined the Order of the Arrow. She also became a trainer of adult Scouters." And "during this period of time, our three sons earned their ranks of Eagle Scout."

As another rewarding exercise, Joe said that "in order to strengthen my fishing hobby, I joined the Inland Empire Bassmasters in 1983. I did manage to win one tournament and finished in the Top 5 numerous times."

Joe became a Noon Lion on July 8, 2015, when he was co-sponsered into the club by Chuck Matthews and Buz Williams. "I help work the annual pancake breakfast," he noted, and -at then- President Matthews' request- "became the song and pledge leader, and as the chaplain I recruit volunteers for the meeting invocations. I also became a member of the Lou Nemeth coffee & doughnut crew."

Quite the busybody, wouldn't you say?