Josef L. "Joe" Weakly

Josef Lewis “Joe” Weakly, 39, of Grand Island, died unexpectedly, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2014, at St. Francis Medical Center in Grand Island. Memorial services will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Calvary Lutheran Church in Grand Island with the Rev. Sheri Lodel officiating. There will be no visitation. Joe chose to be an organ and tissue donor and had requested that his body be cremated. Peters Funeral Home of St. Paul is assisting the family with arrangements. Mr. Weakly was born on Oct. 31, 1974, at Clarinda, Iowa, the son of William Lewis and Marsha Marie (Tonkinson) Weakly. He was united in marriage to Amanda Sue Czaplewski on Sept. 19, 2009, in Loup City. He is survived by his wife, Amanda of Grand Island; a daughter, Sophie Weakly, at home; his mother, Marsha Albers of Grand Island; one sister and brother-in-law, Nellie and Geoff Chenoweth of Council Bluffs, IA; one brother and sister-in-law, Jason and Katie Weakly of Omaha; his step-mother, Judy Weakly of Logan, IA; and his mother-in-law, Betty Czaplewski of Grand Island. He is also survived by one sister-in-law, Nicki Czaplewski and Pat Napolitano of Clovis, Calif.; and four brothers-in-law, Monte and Nicole Czaplewski and Justin and Jen Czaplewski, all of Grand Island, Ron Jr. and Denise Czaplewski of Omaha, and Lance Czaplewski and Sam Butler of Ankeny, IA. At the age of 1 year, Joe moved to Hastings with his family, where he lived until the age of 13, when the family moved to Grand Island. He attended Grand Island Senior High School. He worked in Grand Island for ABC Truss for a number of years and began working at Case New Holland in 2004. He met Amanda and moved to Loup City in 2006. The couple lived in Loup City until 2011, when they moved to Grand Island. He was still employed as a laser operator at CNH at the time of his death. Joe was a great handyman that could build or fix anything. He enjoyed working on his 1977 Chevy truck, attending car races and his dog and constant companion, Marley. In his younger years, he was a roller skating fanatic, and was just starting to teach Sophie how to skate. He loved Amanda and Sophie with all his heart. He was preceded in death by his father, William Weakly; a sister, Misty Molt; his father-in-law, Ron Czaplewski; and his grandparents, Marguarite and Raymond Lewis Tonkinson and Viola and Jacob Lewis Weakly. In lieu of flowers and plants, Joe's family strongly suggests memorials be given to his daughter, Sophie Weakly, to be placed into a trust account in her name.