Joseph A. Trapasso (Joe Travis)
“Greatest Salesman”
Stopped selling on December 26, 2006 at the age of 92, having passed from this life into the portals of heaven.
He sold newspapers and shoe shines at five years of age on the snowy sidewalks of Niagara Falls to support his family. He served his country in World War II on the “Little Beaver” Destroyer 570, that was a vital part of the famous Squadon 23. You could almost feel a part of the action as he told of sinking ships and sending kamikazes (dive bombers) to watery graves.
Joe met his sweetheart and wife-to-be of sixty-one years, Novelle Day in Orange,
Texas. His ship had come in for repair from action in war. While he and the rest of his crew waited for repair, he met Novelle. After the war, he came looking for her until he found her. They married and had three children:daughter, Carey Hawa; and sons, Michael Trapasso and little baby Reynard Keith Trapasso, who went before him. He also leaves behind his beloved grandsons, Hunter Travis Hawa, Jeremy James Hawa, Joseph Michael Trapasso, John Michael Trapasso; granddaughters, Tabitha Trapasso and Mary Trapasso; great grandson, Race Hawa; great granddaughter Makayla Harris; also beloved brothers Louie Trapasso and Angelo Trapasso. Joe was predeceased by his father, Antonio Trapasso; mother, Marie Antoinette Defazio; and sister Rose DeSantis.
Joe came to Beaumont in 1949 looking for a job. With no money, he slept in his car and shaved at a gas station. He found a job at Montgomery Wards and sold more appliances, than anyone else in the entire company nation-wide, save one. He went to work for Conn’s Appliances and was the first salesman in the history of the company to ever sell a million dollars worth of appliances in one year. For that outstanding achievement, Conn’s bought him the vehicle of his choice to keep. As a salesman’s salesman, he became the lead trainer to train other salesmen on “How to Sell”. He never met a customer he didn’t like.
He will be greatly missed by the Many that loved him. His wife’s heart says to him, “beautiful man taken away from me by fate, I treasure you still, my one and only loving mate, though now gone, yet near, in memory loved forever more dear.”
Graveside services will be 11:00 A.M. Thursday, December 28, 2006 at Dunk Harvard Cemetery in Angelina County, Texas, under the direction of Broussard’s, 2000 McFaddin.
In lieu of flowers, his wishes would be you find some poor soul and give to them instead.Memorial contributions may be made to American Diabetes Association, P.O. Box 22864, Beaumont, Texas 77726-2864 or Baylor Liver and Kidney Research, 3434 Live Oak, Dallas, Texas 75204.
