I worked for the Campus Ledger in the lab with Joe as a student at JCCC. He was the saving grace and faculty of that program, and we all adored him. He was so kind and always took care of us in the lab, and hilarious, whether he knew it or not. We will miss him forever. 

  I first met Joe when he was the manager of the Morton Grove movie theatre in the town of Morton Grove, Illinois. Since I was already familiar with some of the staff, having worked previously for another area theatre operated by the same company, I was visiting one evening and we were introduced. Having both grown up with a love of drive-in movie theatres, we hit it off immediately and became, as they say, fast friends.

  We remained buddies, spending a lot of time going to the remaining area drive-in theatres and indoor theatres as well. We also were both heavily into "home theatre" and were constantly improving our respective audio-visual set-ups.

  Circa 1985, we decided to make a video parody of the then current Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert movie review show "Sneak Previews." Our version was titled "Geek Previews," with Joe as Roger Fattbutt and myself as Mean Siskel. Since I had (and still do) have a prominent belly, Joe had to stuff a pillow in his sweater to appear even more rotund than I.

  Joe had an amazing sense of humor. I still laugh at some of the things he said years ago. Alas, the time came for Joe to move on back to Kansas. We kept in touch, mostly through e-mails and he would make occasional visits back to Chicagoland to visit myself and his other friends. We would always go over the good times we had together. And those are the times I will remember when I think of my buddy, Joe Petrie.

As mentioned in a previous comment by Bill Grant on this page, here is the picture from the surprise birthday party and private screening of THE GREAT ESCAPE from summer, 1989. Joe later framed this photo and hung it up at his place, saying it was one of the best, most fun nights he ever spent. For all of us too! — with Joe and company

I first met Joe through my younger brother Glen and we instantly became fast friends. We were close in age and bonded over a mutual love of movies, both vintage stuff we grew up with, which we would catch on home screenings together, and also checking out new releases in theaters. My memories of those days are loaded with all good times and fun and funny moments that consistently spark entertaining retellings years later. Joe had a terrific talent for recounting incidents in his current daily life with equal parts exasperation, bewilderment and great humor, always ending up with both of us laughing over the craziness of our personal worlds and the world at large. Whether it was his experiences staying at an Airbnb from the Twilight Zone or attempting to navigate his busy timetable in order to squeeze in a quick trip to the grocery store for a bottle of his beloved Green River pop, the guy always knew how to wind up his stories with a good natured laugh. He also was a master at coining catch phrases, a lot of which I still use to this day, like a movie's soundtrack being "mono as hell" or his favorite instant review of an upcoming movie as soon as a trailer for it ended, "oh is that movie gonna blow!" He also had a talent for picking up stuff while we watched movies that none of the rest of us noticed, like just about every single room in the classic film GUNFIGHT AT THE OK CORRAL having an animal head with antlers hanging up on the walls. Once he pointed that out it's all we looked for as we watched the rest of the movie and we laughed harder and harder with each new one we spotted! We actually worked in the movie theater business at the same time, though not together, but that also served to bond us with our stories shared from the trenches. On his visits back to the Chicago area from Kansas we made a point to get together and it was always like old times no matter how much time had passed. I sure will miss those get togethers, but the guy gave me all fantastic memories to last me a lifetime so I choose not to mourn right now, but to celebrate that I was lucky enough to call him my friend. One last memory: One year on my birthday my brothers and all my friends threw me a surprise party which included a private screening of my favorite movie, THE GREAT ESCAPE. We took pictures of the event and one that included all of us in the shot I decided to get copies made and share them with everyone who was in the picture. Joe told me that he loved that night so much and considered it one of the best times he ever had, so much so that he framed the photo and hung it up in his place. As the quote goes from THE WILD BUNCH, another one of Joe's and my favorite movies: "I wouldn't have it any other way." 

The two Joes

Joe and I hung out quite a bit when he lived in my hometown in the Chicago suburbs. We traveled together to Los Angeles on a vacation and had a great time there for a couple of weeks. Then after I moved there to live with a girl I met during the first trip, Joe came out and visited us and he was one of the best guests I've ever had and I've hosted a lot of them over the years. He was always kind and considerate and eager to see new stuff and learn new things, really the perfect houseguest who knew how to enjoy his holiday. That's actually rare for a lot of folks.  Susan and I always hoped he'd come back for another visit, but sadly it never happened. Meanwhile, he and I stayed in touch for many years after and he even tried to teach me how to drive stick shift one night in an abandoned parking lot at 3am. I was a terrible student and couldn't get the hang of it at all, but Joe was so patient and never discouraged me. A born teacher.  Finally after driving in spurts and circles for about five minutes a cop drove into the parking lot and told us to get out of the car. He said: "Just how much have you guys been drinking tonight?!" Hahaha!  Joe calmly explained what we were doing and the cop laughed and also gave me advice on driving stick. We had lots of long conversations and even longer laughs in the years we were buddies. I know I will see him again somewhere and we will dig up some of those old stories and jokes and create some new ones and maybe he can try to teach me to drive stick shift again as I've gotten pretty rusty at it.  Joe, if you're reading this-and I think you will-thanks for all the advetures we had in this incarnation. I look forward to more and meanwhile, make sure the surround sound is working! 

Joe was always pleasant and fun to chat with in the hallways at JCCC.  He impacted so many student lives.  My condolences to the family.