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Daniel L Arnes, CMDCM
to remember
Joca, Stephen Paul, CAPT.
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Contact Info
Home Town Gainesville, FL
Last Address Orange Park, FL
Date of Passing Jun 01, 2007
Location of Interment Buried at Sea, South Atlantic Ocean
JOCA Stephen - Paul Joca, age 60, of Orange Park, Florida, died Friday, June 1, 2007, of leukemia. Born March 4, 1947, in Gainesville, Florida to John and Mary Joca, Steve grew up in Jacksonville Beach and attended local public schools, graduating from Fletcher High School in 1965. He earned a B.S. in Journalism in 1970 and a B.S. in Civil Engineering in 1979, both from the University of Florida. He was a Professional Engineer and a partner in the Civil Engineering firm of Stone, Joca and Mahoney. He was a Naval pilot and retired in 1997 after serving his country for 27 years, obtaining the rank of Captain. Captain Joca's career included a tour in Vietnam and serving as Commanding Officer of Naval Aviation Depot 0474 at NAS Jax. Steve was predeceased by his father, John G. Joca, Sr.
Steve was deeply committed to community service, volunteering with Quigley House, Habitat for Humanity, Boy Scouts, Clay County Public Schools, Clothes Closet, American Red Cross Lifeguard Corps, and many other organizations. He was an active member of Asbury United Methodist Church, Orange Park, Florida. Services will be held Tuesday, June 5, 2007, 11:00 a.m., at the church, located at 16 College Drive, Orange Park. Donations are encouraged to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for cancer research.
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Published Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Beach ceremony honors lifeguard's memory
Lifeguards, friends and family gathered for a solemn ceremony Sunday morning honoring the memory of Stephen Paul Joca, a former member of the American Red Cross Volunteer Life Saving Corps.
The ceremony began on the shoreline at the corps' station at the foot of Beach Boulevard in Jacksonville Beach. Several lifeguards and a coxswain rowed Joca's ashes out to sea in a small dory boat and scattered the remains into the ocean.
Joca, 60, died June 1 from leukemia. He had a 27-year career in the U.S. Navy, rising to the rank of captain, and had also been a Jacksonville Beach lifeguard.
Joca had long-standing connections to the Beaches and was a 1965 graduate of Fletcher High School.
Vietnam War/Consolidation II Campaign (71-72)
From Month/Year
December / 1971
To Month/Year
March / 1972
Description This Campaign was from 1 December 1971 to 29 March 1972. The allies completed the last major phase of the ACTOVLOG program in early 1972 when the Vietnamese Navy took over the former centers of American naval power in South Vietnam, the Logistic Support Bases at Nha Be, Binh Thuy, Cam Ranh Bay, and Danang. The Navy's other Vietnamization projects lasted until the total withdrawal of American forces from South Vietnam in March 1973. Construction and turnover of the last of 16 coastal radar sites (one on board a station ship) was completed in August 1972. Further, COMNAVFORV erected over 4,500 shelters for Vietnamese Navy personnel and their families. American planners hoped these better living conditions would strengthen the morale of Vietnamese sailors. U.S. personnel completely restructured and streamlined the allied navy's supply system, with special attention devoted to the Naval Supply Center at Saigon. After an intensive $8 million effort with the help of American civilians, the Naval Advisory Group improved management procedures, developed a skilled work force, and modernized the industrial plant at the Saigon Naval Shipyard. By early 1972, the Vietnamese facility had finished building 58 ferrocement junks, reconditioned hundreds of newly acquired river craft, and achieved the ability to overhaul all of the Vietnamese Navy's seagoing ships in-country, a major goal of the advisory program.
