Joseph John Pycior 9/11/01

I have the honor of paying tribute to Joseph John Pycior. Joseph worked in the Petagon on September 11, 2001. The aviation warfare systems operator first class, just months away from his Navy retirement.

Mr. Pycior, 39, was looking forward to starting a new career as a middle school teacher, focusing on his favorite subject, history. The Civil War buff had completed correspondence courses at Thomas Edison State College in May and was supposed to collect his bachelor of arts degree in history during a ceremony in Trenton on Oct. 13.Instead, his wife and two sons, Joey III, 10, and Robbie, 8, came from their home in Landover, Md., and accepted the degree for him.From his youngest days, Mr. Pycior wanted to join the Navy, said his mother, Arlene Pycior.

He was in the Navy Brigade as a boy and entered the Navy Junior ROTC at East Rutherford's Becton Regional High School, where he met Terri.A week after graduating from high school, Mr. Pycior enlisted in the Navy. He served in the Persian Gulf twice, on P-3 airplanes and in the recruiting field in Philadelphia. He began working at the Pentagon in 1999."With any job he was given, he was very conscientious with his job," his mother said. "He was a good father, a good husband and a good son."Mr. Pycior also loved being Webelos den leader of his older son's Cub Scout pack and motivating the young boys, Terri Pycior said. "He was like the life of the party," she said.

During Labor Day weekend, the couple went to the Cherry Hill area and talked with real estate agents about houses. They wanted to settle down, get a dog. They promised the boys it would be their last move.Mr. Pycior was looking for a house with a basement. He was going to make a special room with no carpeting, where he and sons could build huge models, made of Legos.Along with his mother, his wife and his two sons, Mr. Pycior is survived by his father, Joseph J. Pycior. He was predeceased by a brother, Gregory.

We miss Joe and hope that our remembrance of him helps to honor his passing. Terri, we are thinking of you today.
Posted by Sherri and Heather Cook on 2007-09-11
Rest in peace, Joseph. We are all so proud of you.
Posted by Roberta on 2007-02-02 A day does not go by that I do not think about Joe. I know that his family misses him terribly and I pray for them daily. All those who ever met him are better persons for having known him. I wear his memorial bracelet and get asked about it often. His memory will always live on.
Posted by Glenn, Laine & Joe Justis on 2006-09-11

"The thing he was known for, especially at the end, was being the biggest Cub Scout there was. In the spring of 2001, Joe and our boys, Joey and Robbie, entered their handmade cars in Pack 970's pinewood derby. Joe won for Pack 970, and then he took second place for the Two Rivers District [in southern Prince George's County]. Robbie and I wore wolf neckerchiefs, but Joe and Joey wore Webelos neckerchiefs. You know, Webelos actually stands for something: We�ll be loyal scouts. It's appropriate." Terri Pycior, wife

Hi Joe,Even though we had not talked since high school, I often thought of you and how we used to all play together between seventh and eighth streets. Terry, I don't know if you remember me from high school but we were in the ROTC together and I remember when you started dating Joe. Joe and I were best buddies when we were little. I am very blessed to have known such a wonderful person. My condolences go out to you and the boys and to his mom. I cannot believe it has been five years already. May god bless and watch over you and the boys always.
Denise Kaounis-Murden,
Carlstadt