CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — First responders, retirees and members of the Navy SEAL community packed a Chesapeake church Monday to bid farewell to a man who is being remembered as a patriot and a true American hero.
Virginia Beach native Maurice “Mo” Joseph, 64, who died Oct. 9 after a brief battle with brain cancer, had a career full of heroic events, but it appears that one response, miles from home, is what led to his death.
Mourners, some with badges, and even some with four legs, honored Joseph, whose heroism spanned the decades.
June 1991: Joseph, as a member of the Norfolk Police SWAT team, captured a man on the run after he had killed four children.
“Citizens were applauding the police and saying thank you,” Joseph said at the time. “Even this officer was caught off-guard.”
Had he ever felt that kind of appreciation?
“No, it is the first time,” he said. “It makes me feel good.”
“It was kind of shocking because the entire neighborhood gave us a standing ovation,” said retired officer Craig Stephens.
His wife, Gina Joseph, recently learned about the quadruple murder case.
“And it makes me wonder how many other stories are like that from heroism,” she said. “He just did it because of who he was, and [he] never wanted the accolades for it.”
Sept. 1980: Mo was Orlando Goodhope’s hero on the football field at Norfolk State University. Joseph, the center, gave advice that would help send Goodhope to the NFL.
“He led that offensive line, and I came in and he took me by the hand, saying ‘Look at this. Follow me.'”
Sept. 11, 2001: When the Twin Towers fell, Mo, his wife Melodie, who was a Norfolk Police detective, and 36 other Norfolk officers volunteered to help. Dave Goldberg organized the trip.
“We went up to Ground Zero, and we worked there for two weeks — search and recovery,” Goldberg said.
ALS would claim Melodie’s life in 2014.
After a second career with the Navy SEAL community, Joseph retired and moved to Florida. Months later, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 brain cancer.
His children shed tears of sadness and tears of joy in an emotion-filled farewell.
“I know how compassion of a person he was,” said Ryan Dickerson.
Said Kristin Joseph: And what we heard, all the stories, were exactly as we know him, too.”
Suffolk firefighter Michael Joseph said the service “reaffirmed all the lessons that I’ve learned throughout the years.”
“Just look around,” said Hollywood actor Alex Joseph. “Everybody here loved dad, and he loved all of them.”
Other former Norfolk officers who responded to the World Trade Center have died or fallen ill because of the toxins.
If you would like to help others battling diseases associated with 9/11, the Joseph family asks you to make a donation to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.
