Joseph "Joe" William Jirsa

  Joseph William Jirsa, 84, passed into the receiving hands of his Lord on Saturday, July 12, 2025.  Joe was a much loved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, uncle, and brother.  He will be missed.

            Joe was born on July 13, 1940, the first of three children born to Al and Carol (Heinze) Jirsa in the small river community of Portage, Wisconsin. While in high school, Joe excelled in math, leading to his application to and graduation from the Milwaukee School of Engineering. Following his time at MSOE, Joe and his much-loved car (a 1948 Dodge previously owned by his father, and subsequently “improved” with a two-tone light green & cream paint job, headers/dual exhaust, and a considerable lowering of the rear profile), departed home for the Hanford Atomic Energy plant in Washington state.  An especially positive outcome of this move was his meeting Sara Sartain and their subsequent marriage in the spring of 1962, eventually welcoming daughter Anna and a son, Joe.

            Thus began a rather peripatetic existence owing to his career with General Electric in Fernandina Beach, Florida, Phoenix, Arizona, Hamburg, Germany, and finally, returning to Minnesota and finishing his career with NSP at the Monticello nuclear power plant. He settled in St. Michael where Joe enjoyed the company of many friends and watched his family grow. He and Sara later moved to Clearwater, Minnesota in retirement. 

            During his travels, and numerous moves, Joe developed and continued many interests: aviation (he piloted a small club plane for many years, even flying to Portage on one occasion to take his dad for a flight!), fishing and hunting which initially emerged in his teens, building personal computers for and with his family, golf, and, finally,  riding a succession of Honda Gold Wing motorcycles (predated by his surreptitious ownership of an Indian cycle while in high school). 

            Joe is survived by his wife of 63 years, Sara Jirsa; his children Anna (Steve Fenske) Jirsa, and Joseph Jirsa; his grandchildren Joe Schoen, and Jamie (Cody Burke) Schoen;  and his great-grandson, Gabriel Valentine.          

Visitation will be held from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 23, 2025 at the PETERSON CHAPEL IN SAINT MICHAEL, 300 Main Street North, Saint Michael, MN. Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:00 a.m. with visitation 1 hour prior on Saturday, July 26, 2025 at Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 309 West Cook Street, Portage, WI. Interment will follow at Saint Mary's Cemetery in Portage. All are welcome to join the family back at the church for lunch and fellowship. 

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