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Still Up To Being All He Can Be

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By DEREK MAUL

Tribune correspondent

Published: May 17, 2008

BRANDON - Joe Lori is one of those irrepressible can-do people who approach every task full tilt. He works hard, doesn't waste time and makes his own breaks.

"It's how my mother taught me," he said. "Whatever you do, do the best you can.

"I was born and raised in Jersey City," he said. "After I graduated high school, we moved to south Jersey and I immediately got drafted."

He served two years of active duty Army in Korea as a forward observer with the 82nd Airborne, then six years active reserve while working as an auto mechanic. He quickly became certified by Ford, Chrysler, General Motors and American Motors Corp., and by the time he turned 22, he was a service manager.

"In 1962, I was working for Ford when this customer gave one of my managers a hard time," Lori said. "So I threw her out of the dealership. Two years later, we got married."

Not willing to be defeated, Kay Jantowski set up another appointment using a different name.

"She charmed me into lunch," Lori said. "Then, before I knew it, we were dating."

Still in New Jersey, the Loris opened a dude ranch. She ran the farm while he worked as terminal manager for Greyhound in New York City.

"But I couldn't take the cold," Lori said. "I had frostbite from Korea, so we moved to Florida in 1970."

They lived in South Tampa but in 1971 discovered Brandon.

"There was a hitching post at Kings and Bloomingdale avenues with horses tied up," Lori said. "We knew we were home. We thought Brandon was beautiful, and the commute wasn't bad back then."

Lori worked with car dealerships from Tampa to Clearwater to St. Petersburg, seizing on every training opportunity available.

"I was certified in every field they have," he said. "Instructor classes, too. I do everything all the way. Pick what you want, go for it and don't waste your time."

When a position opened at Brandon Chrysler in the late 1970s, Lori specialized in automotive electronics. Then, in the mid-1980s, he opened his own shop, Certified Auto Electric, at U.S. 301 and Causeway Boulevard.

"I had a good business," Lori said. "We worked drivability problems, carburetion. We had the reputation, 'If Joe couldn't fix it and then nobody could.' Chrysler engineers were picking my brain."

In 1985, Lori joined the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, a volunteer corps of nearly 28,000 members who provide safety patrols on waterways, teach boating safety and help the U.S. Coast Guard in non-law enforcement programs such as search and rescue and marine environmental protection.

"I always liked boats," Lori said, "always owned boats. I'm a water nut."

True to form, Lori jumped in without holding back.

"I picked operations, and little by little, I qualified in every job they have: land, sea and air."

"The Coast Guard Auxiliary is a force multiplier," Lori said. "We don't carry weapons, and we're not law enforcement, but we do everything else. We free the Coast Guard for drug interdiction and smuggling."

Reserve units work part time and get paid, Lori said. Auxiliary members "work pretty much full time and don't get paid. But we're uniformed and under Coast Guard orders.

"I'd average 80 hours a week I kept in touch with my business by phone."

After eight years with the Tampa Flotilla, Lori helped launch the Brandon Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 74. Six years ago, he helped resurrect his current command, Ruskin's Flotilla 75.

In 1996, Lori retired and sold his business. He devoted more time to Auxiliary commitments, including innovative work establishing protocols for the use of personal watercraft and small boats.

He has trained military, Homeland Security, police and fire personnel.

In response to the bombing of the USS Cole on Oct. 12, 2000, which killed 17 sailors and wounded 39 others, the Army flew Lori to Kuwait to certify military personnel in the use of recreational watercraft - one of many ground-breaking initiatives noted in Lori's numerous citations.

In late 2006, the busy volunteer was diagnosed with cancer.

"They wanted to remove my voice box," Lori said, "but I said no. I've done aggressive experimental chemotherapy and radiation."

Doctors have cleared Lori for a return to his Auxiliary duties.

"I'm supposed to curtail my talking," he said. "But I plan on being around. I still buy the extended warranty."

MEET JOE J. LORI

BORN: Jersey City, N.J., 1934

MILITARY SERVICE: U.S. Army, Korea, 1952-54; U.S. Coastguard Auxiliary, since 1985

MARRIED: Kay Jantowski, 1964

MOVED TO BRANDON: 1971

Derek Maul can be reached at derekmaul@gmail.com.

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