On June 5, 2025 we said goodbye to our beloved father, Joseph Bernard Kjelgaard, who passed away peacefully with his family at his side in Naples, FL.

Joesph was born to his parents (Winfield and Mary (Morris) Kjelgaard) in 1939 at Ideal Hospital, Endicott NY, where he lived with his family until age 4. After several moves from Endicott, to Abington, MA to a lake a house in Winthrop ME, to Bangor ME, the family eventually settled in Hingham, MA.

Joe graduated from Sacred Heart high school in Weymouth, where he met his first wife (Nancy McCaughin) and settled in Whitman, MA where they raised four children together.

He was extremely talented, creative, and self-educated, working his way up the ladder at Raytheon to become an engineering technician. His work focused primarily on supporting the development and production of the “cathode ray tube” which was commonly used in all TV’s, projectors and monitors throughout the world. When the CRT was eventually replaced with new technologies, Joe saw it as an opportunity for a career change and decided to go to school for his refrigeration license.

License in hand, he worked for some local Massachusetts HVAC & refrigeration service companies for several years before deciding to pack up and move to Naples FL, where he met the love of his life Maria (Coty) Salinas Kjelgaard. He officially retired in 2015.

In retirement, Joe loved spending his days with Coty at their beautiful condo located at the edge of the everglades, watching natures continuous show of alligators, manatees, dolphins and sharks swimming right by the lanai. He was always active with 14 mile daily bike rides, tennis, target shooting and always had a few crossword puzzles going. Whenever his children and grandchildren came for a visit, he loved taking them out on the boat for fishing adventures and exploring the gulf.

Joe Kjelgaard was an honest, loving, kind man and will be missed by all of us.

He is survived by his wife, Maria (Coty) Kjelgaard, siblings: Mary (Kjelgaard) Sheehy and Rita (Kjelgaard) Fusaro, his daughter Margaret and sons Michael and David.

He is predeceased by his brother Paul, sister Chris (Kjelgaard) Elliot and his son Thomas Edward Kjelgaard.

A funeral service for Joseph will be held on October 11, 2025, at 10:30 AM at Holy Ghost Parish in Whitman, MA. Following the service, a Celebration of Life will be held at Knights of Columbus, 1195 Bedford St, Whitman.

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